Last year saw biometric payment card trials take off across the globe. With more in the pipeline and the first wave of user feedback already received, it’s clear the technology’s reached a turning point. The next step to getting these cards to consumers? Getting their fingerprints registered onto the cards. 

A lot of questions have centered around the enrollment process. What will it look like? How will it work? How long will it take? In fact, 83% of card issuers see the registration of user fingerprints as the most important thing to get right when launching biometric payment cards.

A great first date with your shiny new biometric smartcard sets the scene for a happy marriage, right? With the significance of this first meeting in mind, we set out with UX design specialists BlockZero to define a solution that’s straightforward, secure and, dare we say, fun!

The brief: introducing biometric smartcards to millions

Technology achieving something is one thing but making users happy to use it is quite another. Millions of users will soon pick up these cards for the first time and experience the same “what’s next?” feeling. And not just one type of user either: from teenagers to the elderly, across countries and cultures. So, initial enrollment of your fingerprint needs to be intuitive and uncomplicated for everyone.

We must also consider how sensitive this scenario is. Anything finance-related will always be delicate, but when you combine it with sensitive biometric data and technology that’s considered reasonably ‘new’, consumers need to be put at ease.

With endless enrollment possibilities, we began with a clean slate. “It was refreshing starting from scratch on this project. We weren’t trying to shoe-horn user-experience into an existing solution, we were building an experience that had the consumer at the heart from the start.” – Sonja Rattay, Head of UX at BlockZero.

Fighting friction

Getting a new bank card is an every day task, so it is important that this new technology does not add complexity. Any additional point of friction could put users off.

Requiring users to enroll in-branch was ruled out for this reason. While this will be a key scenario that we will support, mobile-based challenger banks are already removing the need to be on-the-ground, and for consumers living far away or on the move, we decided to consider out-of-branch self-enrollment and to build our concept around that.

Let’s get excited!

To truly make biometric payment cards a success, creating an experience right from consumers’ initial meeting with their card is crucial. Plus, in an age where data privacy concerns are high, an independently-managed process instils confidence and trust. In fact, 79% of banks see at-home or on-the-move enrollment as the answer.

And so, the box was born. We’ve done away with the mundane white envelope; this bank card delivery is something to get excited about. Upon opening the box, users are, quite literally, presented with their new card and instructions for how to get started.

“The box offers a simple-to-use solution to register your fingerprint on the card, but it’s about much more than that. It feels like a present and engages users from the get-go, something that’s vital to adoption.” – Sonja, BlockZero.

The card is intuitively presented with the sensor facing the user, with all the instructions detailed on the box itself with what to do now, what to do next, and links to additional mobile app-based support highlighted.

Thinking outside (and inside) the box

Undoubtedly, the preferred way to enroll will differ between markets and demographics, so in addition to our box, we also support a range of enrollment scenarios, enabling banks and consumers to select the method that works best for them.

Whether that’s via a mobile banking app (with instructions and guidance built-in) using the mobile device to power the card, at the payment terminal, or any other way that the issuing bank decides best fits its customer. Importantly, the box and companion mobile app can remain constant factors throughout all of these.

Providing a rich first consumer touch-point with these new cards is fundamental in taking them from trial to market and, longer term, to mass adoption. Want to learn more about our ‘out-of-the-box’ enrollment solution? Watch our demo video here.