The first biometric card in Poland is already at the Post Office
You can now order the Bank Pocztowy biometric card at Poczta Polska branches nationwide. It's the only payment tool of its kind in Europe. In Europe, this solution has previously only been available to customers of a French financial institution. The card is currently available to institutional clients, but plans are underway to expand its reach to individual customers in the near future.
In the country's largest network of Poczta Polska SA's own branches, comprising 4,700 offices and branches, customers of the Microenterprises segment of Bank Pocztowy SA can order a biometric card from Bank Pocztowy SA. The biometric card enables payments authorized by biometric verification of the cardholder's fingerprint.
Customers can also make payments with this card within the Poczta Polska network and its POS terminals. The biometric solution from Bank Pocztowy aligns with Poczta Polska's strategy for digital development, by providing further, innovative technological solutions.
" Poczta Polska, together with companies within its capital group, is developing new technologies and introducing innovations, as exemplified by the introduction of biometric cards by Bank Pocztowy. Digital Post is one of the strategic directions we have set for ourselves and which we are consistently implementing to provide customers with a wide range of convenient, modern, and secure services. The number of cashless transactions at post offices is constantly growing, with more and more customers using both payment cards and BLIK. We are also gradually increasing the number of POS payment terminals, currently having over 12,000. I hope that fingerprint authentication will also be well-received by our customers, who will appreciate this secure form of payment ," emphasizes Tomasz Zdzikot, CEO of Poczta Polska SA.
" By developing new technologies, Bank Pocztowy is meeting the expectations of customers who are increasingly willing to use online and mobile banking solutions, as well as cashless transactions using payment cards – card payments already account for 62% of all transactions in Poland. Our latest solution – a biometric card – supports this trend ," says Jakub Słupiński, CEO of Bank Pocztowy SA.
" Biometric cards are a complete novelty, not only in Poland but also globally. Thales, the company that developed this advanced technology, supplies its product to only five markets, including one in Europe. For Bank Pocztowy and Poczta Polska customers, the use of the latest technology means even more convenient and secure transactions, and for us, it supports the dynamic development of the cashless payments market in Poland, " comments Marcin Ledworowski, member of the Bank Pocztowy management board responsible for business and IT.
This solution ensures security for every contactless transaction, regardless of the amount, as it requires biometric authentication. Before completing a payment, the user must place their thumb on a special sensor on the front of the card, where the fingerprint is read. If the fingerprint matches the previously encoded biometric template, a green LED will illuminate, confirming the transaction is possible. Once the biometric fingerprint template is saved, no one other than the rightful cardholder can complete the transaction. Importantly, the encrypted biometric fingerprint template is stored exclusively on the payment card. The data is not stored on the reader, in the bank's systems, or transmitted to a POS terminal or ATM during payment processing.
It's worth noting that this innovation has already been positively evaluated by the industry and customers. In the Cashless Pay 2021 competition for the most interesting payment solution to debut on the Polish market in 2021, Bank Pocztowy SA's biometric card took first place in the Most Interesting Payment Card category and second place in the Most Interesting Payment Solution category.