MasterCard is billing a new credit card it’s issuing in Singapore as the “next generation of payment cards.”
With security in mind, the Display Card has an LCD screen and touch-sensitive buttons both of which let the user employ a one-time password. Such OTPs as they’re known are often delivered via text messages or chip-based authentication devices. The card is designed for “banking institutions that necessitate a higher level of security for their online banking services require the use of a separate authentication token or device,” according to a press release from MasterCard.
Aside from the increased functionality, the card operates like a standard credit, debit or ATM card. The idea is to provide a two-in-one device for users who have to carry a second authentication device for sensitive transactions.
Despite the narrow targeting of the Display Card, MasterCard adds that in the future, “this card could incorporate additional functionalities and be able to indicate other real time information such as available credit balance, loyalty or reward points, recent transactions, and other interactive information.”
One takeaway from the announcement is that, even in Asia, smartphone-based commerce still hasn’t taken off. Hence Google’s apparent interest in a Google Wallet plastic credit card which would be a stopgap solution until mobile payments become mainstream.
MasterCard Credit Card has LCD & Touch keypads
