Latest MasterCard Features Keyboard and LCD Display
Our phones now operate as little computers that we carry around. We surf the web, check our email, and pay our bills on them. The new Display Card from MasterCard is an example of how credit cards are also evolving to meet the needs of the technology era. It looks and acts like any other card, but with added security features. The LCD display and keyboard help to provide these. Singapore is the location MasterCard has chosen to for initial deployment of the card this January.
Digital technology has made taking care of our finances a lot easier, but it has also created a different type of criminal. No one has to don a mask and pick up a gun to rob us now. They can do it with a few simple keystrokes. Security tokens are one way that financial institutions are fighting back. Consumers carry an authorized smart device or key fob that is used to prove the card holder’s identity.
Of course, that gives the consumer one more thing to have to carry around all the time. MasterCard is simplifying the procedure by building in extra security measures on the card itself. The card now can act as its own security token. Banking and credit procedures in Singapore are already complicated enough, which explains why MasterCard wants to introduce their new card here first. The idea sprang about because how frequently residents of Singapore use multiple banks. Carrying a separate token for each card would be unreasonable.
This isn’t brand new technology. In fact, MasterCard has been using the display card worldwide since 2010. This, however, is the largest deployment of the card in one location to date. In normal situations, the card will act as any other bank card; it really shines, though, in less secure situations. For example, you can create one-time use passwords while making an over the phone purchase.
So far, this is the only card that functions as a security token. Additional features are also on the way. Imagine being able to use the LCD display to check your card balance, rewards points, or other information.
From now on, all Bonus$aver and MasterCard Platinum credit cards, MasterCard Super Salary, Bonus$aver, and XtraSaver cards issued in Singapore are going to be display cards.