One of the key considerations in the payments and point of sales market is how to make payments more secure. We’re all familiar with chips and passcodes, which protect our information when we make credit or debit purchases, but these security measures can be easily circumvented.

For example, a scam that is appearing more and more lately involves thieves that carry around mobile POS terminals. All they have to do is key in an amount less than $30, and tap the terminal next to the victim’s wallet. On a crowded subway, it’s an easy scam to carry out.

The RFID chip technology that normally makes payments so quick and convenient leaves customers vulnerable in this situation.

One Solution on the consumer side of things are RFID-blocking wallets. But POS terminal vendors are also looking for ways to step-up security to make their product stand out from the pack.

One of the newest technologies to grace the market is biometrics. Just last week, identity solution vendor Morpho announced a partnership with Visa to step up security using technology like biometrics.

According to a Biometric Update article on the partnership, Morpho is exploring touchless fingerprint recognition for proximity payments, and facial recognition in smartphones and tablets to “validate payments through a simple selfie”.

Biometric POS terminals will experience huge growth over the next five years 

In 2015, there were about 540,000 biometric POS terminals in circulation. This number is expected to hit 1.78 million by 2020, thanks to developments and partnerships spearheaded by the following 16 companies.

Bitel

Headquartered in Seongnam, South Korea Bitel was established in 1992.

Its products include personal digital assistant (PDA) POS, wireless POS, countertop POS, pinpads, mobile payments, and other POS devices. It serves the law enforcement, POS, and identification devices sectors.

Biyo

Biyo was established in 2011, and is headquartered in New York. It provides biometric POS solutions to accelerate service in restaurants, coffee shops, retail shops, food trucks, cafes and bakeries, boutiques, gift shops, pet shops, and pizza shops. The company offers an all-in-one biometric POS system that accepts all payments. It also provides a digital wallet app for iPhone and Android mobile devices.

Crossmatch

Crossmatch was established in 1996, and is headquartered in Florida. It provides biometric identity management solutions, and serves the defense, finance, government, law enforcement, enterprise, retail, and restaurant sectors.

Crossmatch offers authentication and verification solutions that include DigitalPersona and Altus for access to networks, digital data, and applications. It also provides a web enrollment solution that manages and collects biometric enrolment data, as well as authentication and verification, enrolment and live scan, and handheld identity management solutions.

Danal

Danal was established in 2006. Headquartered in California, the company provides identity management, autofill, and payment solutions. It also securely authenticates mobile subscribers from live mobile operator networks by generating an authentic mobile ID.

DERMALOG Identification Systems

DERMALOG Identification Systems was founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It manufactures and sells biometric identification systems serving the law enforcement sector and civil government, security, and health agencies.

DERMALOG offers commercial and government biometric solutions. Its offers automated fingerprint identification systems, border checkpoint systems and biometric ID cards.

Ekemp

Ekemp was established in 2006, and is headquartered in Shenzhen, China. The company develops secure card POS systems and industrial mobile data collection terminals. It serves the logistics, retail, medical, healthcare, and manufacturing sectors.

Ekemp offers the biometric fingerprint tablet M7, an all-in-one handheld PDA, machine, and finger-vein authentication module. It also offers POS terminals, printers, and scanners.

Fujitsu

Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu was founded in 1935. The company is a leading IT service provider in Japan and the fourth largest in the world; it provides a wide range of technology solutions, products, and services.

Fujitsu offers security solutions featuring biometric authentication technology. This technology generates different .genrated differenttypes of authentication data based on its palm-vein technology. It is a hygienic, contactless technology that uses unique vascular patterns as personal identification data. Its products include PalmSecure, PalmSecure Mouse, PalmSecure for SSO Single Sign On (SSO), PalmLock for systems, applications and products (SAP), and PalmEntry access control system.

Ingenico

Ingenico was founded in 1993. Headquartered in Georgia, it deploys hardware and POS solutions to small and medium-sized merchants, financial institutions, and retailers, thereby covering the entire payment value chain.

Ingenico offers mobile fingerprint solutions for biometric authentication. The company's biometric terminals are used in attendance tracking, voting, and pension payments. It also offers desktop, portable, retail, unattended, and healthcare e-ID terminals.

M2SYS

M2SYS was established in 1998 and is headquartered in Georgia. It provides identification and authentication software solutions for the workforce management, government, public safety, healthcare, and financial service sectors.

M2SYS offers biometric technology that includes Hybrid Biometric Platform, Biometric SDK, Bio-Hyperserver, and Bio-SnapON. The biometric products offered by the company include M2-DualID, M2-EasyScan, M2-TenPrint, M2-TwoPrint, M2-AutoTilt,  Cross Match I Scan 2, M2-FingerVein reader, M2-PalmVein, and M2-FuseID.

PayTango

Headquartered in California, PayTango was established in 2012. It provides biometric identification for access control and payment applications, and offers services to registered card users.

Safran Morpho

Morpho was established in 1925. It is headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. The company offers automated biometric identification systems, biometric identity documents, and explosives detection system. Morpho serves the government identity, public security, critical infrastructure, and transportation sectors.

Morpho offers biometric terminals that include access control terminals, time and attendance terminals, desktop devices, OEM modules, and mobile terminals.

Sthaler

Sthaler was established in 2012, and is headquartered in London, UK. The company manufactures FingoPay, a biometric device that allows consumers to pay at retail POS. The company's FingoPay is used in 80,000 ATMs in Japan. It also offers Fi-D, a biometric financial security device.

SmartMetric

SmartMetric was established in 2002. The company is headquartered in Las Vegas, and develops miniature electronic systems that are used for payment validation and biometric identification. It is used in financial services, employee identification, driver license, computer network access, health insurance, welfare payment, passport, and cashing identity verification applications.

VeriFone

VeriFone was established in 1981. It is headquartered in California, US. It is a technology company that provides secure electronic payment solutions at POS. It manufactures a wide range of payment solutions and add-on services, enabling secure electronic payment transactions and value-added services. It serves the large enterprise, retail, petroleum and convenience, retail banking, transportation, and healthcare sectors.

VeriFone offers the VX 520 biometric sensor that provides security for ID verification, identity management, and cardholder authentication. It also offers countertop devices, portables, unattended card devices, and pinpad POS devices.

Zwipe

Zwipe was established in 2009. It is headquartered in Oslo, Norway. It develops biometric contactless payment cards for no-pin transactions. It also develops biometric authentication engines that perform full ID verification without a fixed power supply. Zwipe offers the Zwipe MasterCard, Zwipe V3 Evolution, Zwipe Access, and startup kit solution that evaluates Zwipe’s on-card biometric technology. Partners of the company include TransTech Systems, DIRAK, RackSecure, Mactwin, DOCUPAC DE MEXICO, Infostream Polska, and STA Group.

Zvetco

Zvetco Biometrics was established in 1999. It is headquartered in Florida, US. The company provides fingerprint identity solutions. It serves the government, healthcare, financial, education, and enterprise sectors in the form of mountable fingerprint readers, desktop fingerprint readers, and portable biometrics.