Although the biometric payment cards market is expanding, the higher cost of these cards can be prohibitive; at present, many banks don’t want to offer it widely because of the economics, Rahul Pandita, marketing manager at Future Market Insights said. Cost, however, could be expected to drop over time, assuming market volume increases, says Frédéric Martinez, head of innovative payment cards at Thales. Additionally, while fingerprint sensor cards have their supporters, they aren’t the only biometric game in town. Many consumers prefer to pay with their phones, forgoing a physical card altogether. Momentum is also rising for other biometric payment methods, such as palm and face-recognition technology, Pandita said. “The growth is subdued, but the growth is still there,” Pandita told. High-net-worth individuals who have high credit limits and tend to be big spenders could be a good target market, says David Shipper, strategic advisor in the retail banking and payments practice at Datos Insights. Some of these consumers prefer a physical card rather than paying with their phone, and most customers still want both options, he said. A bank could differentiate itself by offering a biometric card to high-net-worth individuals, he said. Frequent travelers could also be interested in biometric cards, said Martinez. Biometric cards could be especially good for people who travel to areas of the world that impose a pin requirement. They could also reduce the friction that can happen when consumers are traveling within the U.S. and card issuers decline transactions outside the user’s home area due to suspected fraud, Martinez said. Shipper said, “There’s definitely a market in the U.S. for this. It’s just smaller than outside the U.S.”