Friday 3rd May [Hong Kong] – Advanced security technology company MeReal Biometrics launches its latest generation patented smart card, the “Keyper”. Its new features make it not only the most agile and versatile card on the planet, but now it’s also compatible with more payment and access devices than any other fingerprint card entering the market globally today.
Adding applications to a MeReal Biometrics fingerprint card just became easier. This latest generation card, known as the “Keyper”, is Java Card compliant meaning that existing smart cards in the market with widely used Java programming can upgrade to a fingerprint card by transferring their own applications on to the Keyper without any lengthy or costly redesign. The programs that run payment wallets, credit cards, cryptocurrency vaults and public key infrastructure handling digital certificates and encryption can all be relocated to the Keyper simply and quickly, following Global Platform guidelines.
The Keyper is the only fingerprint card in the world today offering secure and easy transactions or access from anywhere because it can communicate three different ways – using contact and contactless technology, and also using sound waves if the other two options are not available or impractical. Using it on Android and iOS smartphones, any telephone line, on tablets, laptops and PCs was also possible with the previous version however now, with an enhancement to the card’s contact mode, it is compatible to not just some, but all PC and smart card readers as well and automatically suitable for many applications already in the market.
A third new feature is the Keyper’s new secure element, a tamper resistant chip, that validates the user and information safely, and allows for a confidential data exchange between the card and any external device or software.
MeReal Biometrics fingerprint cards, including the Keyper, have in-built long lasting batteries that require charging once a quarter. Power consumption has also been improved on the Keyper reducing the charging time from 2 hours down to 1.5 hours. The card’s portable power adds a practicality unlike any other fingerprint card entering the biometric market. Whether it’s used online or offline, remotely, on the move or at fixed or connected readers the Keyper is targeted at businesses and organisations that see the value of a card that serves more than one purpose.
“The Keyper places MeReal Biometrics in a league of its own,” said Mr Philippe Blot, CEO. “There truly is no other payment or access card, let alone a fingerprint protected card, that can be used whenever and wherever you need it in every industry”.
In addition to these three new features, the Keyper is also FIDO compliant. MeReal Biometrics is now a member of the FIDO (“Fast Identity Online”) Alliance, an open industry association developing authentication standards that help reduce the world’s over-reliance on passwords on websites and apps. The Keyper also complies with PKI (“Public Key Infrastructure”) standard X.509, the most widely accepted standard for digital certificates. MeReal Biometrics is a new member of the Hong Kong PKI Forum which promotes the knowledge and use of PKI products and services
Keyper’s new features
- Java Card
- ISO 7816
- EMV
- FIDO
- OATH
- X.509
- PSD2
- DESFIRE EV1
- New secure element for storing and exchanging data
- Improved power consumption, charging reduced to 1.5hour from 2hours
MeReal Biometrics’ patented cards are flexible and dynamic. A positive fingerprint match can be compulsory or not. For example, a low value transaction may not require a fingerprint but a high value transaction requires the cardholder’s fingerprint before any other technology is unlocked. A fingerprint may not be required to enter certain areas or doors, however a fingerprint may be required in other areas or at specific times. All cards can be set to contain multiple fingers, each performing different functions and a new cardholder can record his / her fingerprint on the card without needing assistance from any other device. The battery powers that very simple enrolment process.
As well as the battery, the sound/acoustic feature on all the MeReal Biometrics cards attracts partners who want to provide ease of use to their cardholders, giving them the ability to use their cards on any device from everywhere. Instead of being restricted to use only on fixed readers requiring electricity or products using NFC (“Near Field Communication”) technology, the signal that enables tapping and waving, the cardholder has the sound option. The cards can be held up to a microphone while they emit a digital tune. That sound can be set as an encrypted dynamic one-time password or an encrypted signature that is decoded by the issuer’s software. Hold the card to a smartphone’s microphone to play it to an app, call a hotline and play it on any of the world’s 9 billion phone lines, hold it to the microphone of any PC, laptop or tablet to log-in to a website, make a payment or approve a document. The options are endless and the audio feature follows a China UnionPay standard for payments.
The fingerprint guarantees the cardholder is who he/she claims to be. At a minimum a cardholder can prove his/her identity anywhere simply by showing someone in authority the green light on the card flashing or by playing the acoustic to someone, signaling a positive fingerprint match.
“This is not just our latest, exciting fingerprint card, it’s unrivalled technology, a highly disruptive innovation and it’s currently in production,” said Blot.
The MeReal Biometrics card, developed in France, already features the standard technology that everyday access and payment cards carry such as RFID “Radio Frequency Identification”), NFC (“Near Field Communication”), and EMV (the EuroPay, MasterCard, Visa standard) chip technology. With the added fingerprint sensor, acoustic one-time password and battery power, these cards have unlimited applications 24 hours a day. Use them in all contact modes, all contactless modes or on any device with a microphone, including the world’s 9 billion telephone lines (from smartphones to fixed lines). Plus the cardholder’s fingerprint is stored only in his/her card, not in a database.
[NOTES TO EDITOR]
MeReal Biometrics Limited is a Hong Kong private company dedicated to changing lives with revolutionary biometric smart cards. In 2009 in France, Chairman Patrick Partouche invented a powered card that combines a fingerprint reader, dual channel authentication (NFC/RFID and acoustic), plus energy-harvesting technology for recharging built-in batteries. Today the patented payments and access card can be used anytime, anywhere, any place. The company moved to Hong Kong in 2015 where it set-up its global headquarters to launch the technology to the world.
Logos, artwork and videos can be found in this Dropbox
Check-out more demonstrations on the MeReal Biometrics YouTube channel
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For more information please contact:
MeReal Biometrics (Hong Kong)
Ms Kate Davies, Head of Marketing, +(852) 2891 7484 kdavies@merealbiometrics.com