China’s Digital Yuan Smart Card to Feature Biometrics and Fingerprint Scanning

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The People’s Bank of China’s upcoming digital yuan card will feature IDEX Biometrics and fingerprint scanning, according to regional reports. China’s “Digital Currency Electronic Payment” or DCEP is getting closer toward launch by the day. Last week, smart card manufacturer Chutian Dragon and IDEX Biometrics announced the companies are working on a digital yuan payments card.

China’s DCEP Will Boast Advanced Fingerprint Identification and Authentication Solutions

China’s DCEP continues to make headlines as the crypto asset and central bank-crafted network inches closer toward reality. As the digital yuan draws near, Bitcoin.com News reported on JD.com’s employee participation, Tencent and Ant Group’s help, and Mastercard looking to engage with DCEP transactions. Additionally, reports had shown that the People’s Bank of China-run Digital Currency Research Institute’s, Ma Changchun, stressed that the DCEP would not be fully anonymous.

Now regional reports from China reveal that a new smart card specifically designed to work with the DCEP is being created and the card will feature biometrics. 8btc contributor Olusegun Ogundeji details that Chutian Dragon is one of the largest smart card makers in Asia and is collaborating “with the Norwegian provider of advanced fingerprint identification and authentication solutions” provider IDEX Biometrics.

Ogundeji also notes that Chinese officials are hoping to launch the DCEP during Beijing’s Winter Olympics in 2022.

‘China’s CBDC Is Ahead of the Game,’ Says IDEX Biometrics

China has been ahead of the game in comparison to the U.S. when it comes to a central bank digital currency (CBDC). In the company’s recent announcement about the DCEP project, IDEX Biometrics says: “China is leading the way with digital currency electronic payment.”

IDEX Biometrics further notes that a biometric payment card is essential for a CBDC network. “For the average person, the new currency means lower bank or transaction charges and greater security from thieves and hackers. Stealing a traceable currency is less appealing than the anonymity of stealing a wallet but still possible – without a biometric payment card,” the biometrics company explained this week.

IDEX adds:

That is one reason why the Postal Savings Bank of China is trialing cards equipped with fingerprint scanners developed by fintech partners IDEX Biometrics and Goldpac for transactions in the new currency… A biometric payment card is also smaller and cheaper than a smartphone and requires no battery. That means everyone can have one and be less dependent on network connectivity and power sockets. One trial combines digital payments into a medical ID card.

The biometrics and fingerprint concepts most definitely indicate a lack of anonymity with China’s upcoming DCEP network. Moreover, the biometrics announcement follows the recent reports from the Dalian branch of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC).

8btc’s Ogundeji says that the Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC) and Dalian branch have started digital yuan trials in certain villages this week. “The PSBC’s Dalian branch has so far set up 224 stations in rural areas and completed 1,558 payment transactions,” the report concludes.

What do you think about China’s digital yuan smartcard and the biometrics features? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.