For consumers worried about the security of mobile payments, SmartMetric Inc. thinks it has a solution: fingerprinting. The company announced it is looking to bring its miniaturized fingerprint authentication technology to mobile payments.

SmartMetric said adding fingerprint verification to mobile payment transactions will help overcome consumer concerns about security and "will propel a significant increase in the adoption of mobile devices being used to complete mobile transactions."

According to the company's website, SmartMetric has developed a technology that works in credit cards to let cardholders use their fingerprints to "unlock" the embedded EMV chip in enabled cards. Once the cardholder swipes his finger over the fingerprint scanner, and is matched to the fingerprint on file, the EMV chip is activated to make a transaction.

The announcement doesn't say exactly how SmartMetric's fingerprint scanning technology will be integrated with mobile payment methods, but SmartMetric President and CEO C. Hendrick said the company is excited by the application of its miniature fingerprint scanning technology to the mobile payments field.

For more stories like this, visit the Security research center.