The Bionym team has always highlighted the diversity of the Nymi band’s functionality. Whether it’s authentication for accessing your phone, unlocking the door to your home, or interacting with your car, the company definitely doesn’t want its smartband pigeonholed as a single-use device. Today, Bionym is taking the utility of the Nymi band even further with the introduction of a pilot program for biometrically authenticated payments.
This trial will allow RBC customers to make payments using their MasterCard and the Nymi band, with authentication provided via ECG. This latest evolution of Bionym’s great idea — using the unique pattern of your beating heart to provide consistent and seamless authentication — aims to bring users a faster, easier way to pay while reducing the risk associated with other forms of contactless payments.
The announcement was made during Money2020 in Las Vegas. Applications for the pilot are now being accepted through Bionym’s website and the company says the trial will be launched before the end of this year. Though the announcement contained the name of just two partners (MasterCard and RBC), Bionym indicates that this pilot will be a ‘multibank trial’ so we’ll likely hear about the participation of other financial institutions in the coming weeks.
Update: In conjunction with today’s announcement, RBC has announced RBC PayBand and RBC PayTag, both of which will facilitate payments via wearables including payments made with the Nymbi band. RBC says PayBand and PayTag will allow customers to choose between debit or credit payments. Trials of the technology began with a select group of merchants and consumers at the end of October.
Read more: Bionym forges own path to biometric harmony with the Nymi band
[source] Bionym [/source]
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