Fingerprint sensor firms unlocking new markets beyond smartphones

Stockholm

A TAP of a finger could soon suffice to identify credit card shoppers and rail commuters, offering areas of new business for specialist companies which have benefited from the use of such technology in smartphones.

Sweden's Fingerprint Cards (FPC) sees biometric smart cards - those using fingerprint identification - becoming its fastest growing market as early as 2018, having already become the market leader in a crowded sector for supplying such sensors for smartphones.

Others within the industry are not convinced the smart card business will take off so quickly, prompting questions about whether FPC can maintain its runaway rise in valuation. FPC's share price surged around…