Electronic Products & Technology

Nymi achieves biometrically authenticated wearable payment

Stephen Law   

Electronics Wearable Technology

TD and MasterCard partner up on credit card that pays via your heartbeat

Nymi bandNymi, in collaboration with TD Bank Group (TD) and MasterCard, announced the completion of the world’s first biometrically authenticated, wearable credit card payment using one’s heartbeat.
The first payment was made as part of a pilot in July, which can be seen here: http://bit.ly/1M4YQLP. More than 100 TD users in Toronto, Ottawa and Regina will be testing the Nymi Band’s contactless payment functionality until the end of the summer, as part of this closed payment pilot. Other participating Canadian banks are scheduled to launch similar pilots later this year, and Nymi expects several thousand payments to be made using the Nymi Band during this time.
The Nymi Band is a secure and continuous wearable authenticator that identifies a user based on their unique heartbeat (or electrocardiogram) through proprietary Nymi technology called HeartID. Nymi has developed an NFC-enabled prototype of the Nymi Band for these pilots, which is linked to a user’s MasterCard. In doing so, participants can utilize the Nymi Band to make secure, contactless payments using Tap & Go payment terminals found at many retailers.
“Nymi’s goal is to fundamentally change the way authentication is treated and to move industries towards a more secure and convenient identity model. By working with partners like TD and MasterCard, we are effectively demonstrating that continuous authentication can be a more secure and convenient way to make retail payments,” says Karl Martin, Nymi’s founder and CEO explains.
“Over the past several years, TD has improved the customer experience by introducing a host of innovative digital enhancements allowing us to better address customer needs,” says Chuck Hounsell, senior vice-president, payments, TD. “Working with Nymi’s secure, customer authentication technology is an example of how TD is exploring new and innovative ways of bringing the next level of convenience to our customers.”
“Wearable and mobile payments are becoming increasingly popular among Canadians and we’re ensuring that every MasterCard transaction on the Nymi Band is safe, secure, seamless and convenient for our cardholders,” adds Jason Davies, head of emerging payments, MasterCard Canada. “In partnership with MasterCard Labs and Nymi, we’ll continue to invest in and explore cutting edge payment technologies.”
Nymi and MasterCard collaborated with NXP, the world leader in secure chips for payment, to prototype NFC-enabled Nymi Bands based on NXP’s SmartMX Technology. Nymi, MasterCard and TD will continue working together to innovate in the financial technology space.

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