The Credit Card Only Works When It Listens to Your Voice

To protect credit cards from credit card fraud a voice-recognition system has been set up in credit cards which authenticates a verbal password of a credit card holder. This feature prevents thieves from stealing credit card details to make online purchases.

Beep Card in Santa Monica, California, has come up with a prototype consisting of a credit card with a built in microphone, a loudspeaker, a battery and a voice-recognition chip. 

Although the credit card is standard-sized, it almost three times thicker than a regular one. Nevertheless they are trying to bring down the thickness to normal by putting in smaller chips. 

Squawk signal 

The voice card was conceptualized and designed by Beepcard technology specifically to prohibit fraud of online transactions. Their first voice card has no microphone, instead it has a built-in loudspeaker that gives "squawk," an acoustic ID signal via a computer's microphone to an online server. 

The signal is then verified and after it matches the credit card details, the server establishes that the user is not just entering a credit card number but in fact possesses the actual card. The ID code changes each time the credit card is used in a preordained sequence that only the server knows. In this way credit card imposters are unable to get credit card information by recording the beeps by playing back the audible ID when they key in the details later. But only the new technology can prevent this. 

The new voice card also uses the ID squawk for identification after the user's spoken password is verified. This is effective because it is not easy produce the same voice as owner's. 

The New Diminutive battery 

Voice-recognition systems are also used for voice dialing in cell phones. Beepcard is trying to develop voice-recognition and audio circuitry that can work on a diminutive battery embedded in a credit card. 

To maximize battery life, the system starts functioning only when the credit card is in use. On pressing a button on the card's surface, a prerecorded voice prompts you to "Say your password". The voice-recognition software authenticates the password, by squawking then the server identifies this ID and allows the transaction to proceed. 

Efforts are being carried out to enable the voice card to make up to 10 transactions per day for two years before its battery dies. The problem however, lies in the robustness and flexibility of the credit card so Beepcard has placed the battery in the corner of the credit card to avoid bending and extend battery life. 

Credit card giant Visa of Foster City, California already offers voice recognition to provide security in some telephone transactions, but without the voice authentication feature. The concept can only be incorporated if transactions are user friendly and not use too much of time in their procedures. 

Beepcard's technology is a physical authentication system that doesn't require any special reader hardware and can be used on a random computer at an Internet caf? or telephone. If the card is affordable then Beepcard is a good choice.