China Construction Bank to issue IDEX Biometrics smart cards

These smart cards will serve as digital hard wallets for participants in CCB’s digital currency electronic payment (DCEP) pilots, which to date have involved the deployment of e-wallets in the form of mobile phone applications. DCEP is an encrypted, digital version of the renminbi, China’s national currency, and represents legal tender administered by the People’s Bank of China, the nation’s central bank.

A digital renminbi hard wallet resembles a conventional dual-interface smart card, with secure processing, encrypted memory, and near-field communication capabilities in the secure element. The card’s stored value is further secured with fingerprint recognition and authentication provided by IDEX Biometrics. The boosted level of security allows sponsoring organisations such as CCB to enable higher transaction limits and higher stored balances on card-based hard wallets than is typically allowed on phone-based e-wallets.