NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

SmartMetric, Inc. (OTCQB: SMME): The estimated size of the market for biometric credit and debit cards is significant. While SmartMetric is not making any projections on the actual size of the market, a number of industry figures point to the outsized market size and potential.

According to EMVCo, who is a credit card standards body responsible for the licensing and rules governing EMV chips used on today’s credit and debit cards, more than 10 billion ¹ EMV chip cards have been issued by banks globally.

SmartMetric contracted an independent consumer market research company to ascertain the potential consumer demand for a credit card with incorporated fingerprint biometrics. The survey was conducted in the USA of credit card users.

The questions and results of the consumer research survey are as follows:

1: Are you concerned about credit card or identity fraud?

Answered Yes: 80.1%

2: Would you pay for a safer biometric secured credit card that has a built-in fingerprint reader for your protection?

Answered Yes: 65.5%

3: What would you prefer to pay for a biometric fingerprint secured safer credit card?

Answer 1: $69.95 onetime charge for the life of the card (3 years) 60.2%

Answer 2: $8.95 per month (includes identity theft insurance) 39.7%

Given these research results and given the number of credit cards issued by banks around the world, it is a massively large potential market that SmartMetric has developed its product for.

The more than 10 billion chip-based credit and debit cards issued throughout the world have been issued by banks in order to provide increased card security. By now adding fingerprint biometric sensing technology used to activate the cards contact and contactless chip, it takes security for credit cards to the next level.

Interesting for SmartMetric and card issuing banks is that the consumer research is showing that bank customers are willing to pay for biometric credit card. This is based on the consumer's desire to have a safer technology that aids in protecting against card fraud. For banks card customers, the concern of card fraud goes well beyond the financial loss they may or may not experience.

Card customers find the whole experience of having their financial safety violated unpleasant. It is a logical as well as an emotional reaction by consumers. The sense of violation along with the general concern for their financial safety is the main driving force as to why the research is showing so many existing card customers are willing to pay for a biometric card.

For card issuing banks, they also are advantaged by the increased security offered by biometric credit and debit cards, while at the same time being able to turn their cards into a revenue generating new source of income, making the credit card a new consumer device in its own right.

SmartMetric is the inventor and manufacturer of electronics that fit inside credit and debit cards.

The SmartMetric fingerprint scanning technology inside the card allows the user to secure their credit card using their own fingerprint. It also allows payments networks to be confident that the person making the transaction is indeed the person to whom the card has been issued.

Fingerprint biometric secured credit and debit cards by SmartMetric have been designed around the chip that has now become the standard on newly issued cards within the credit and debit card industry. Touching a small sensor on the cards surface causes a fingerprint scan that reads and matches the card users’ fingerprint in less than a second. Following a fingerprint match, the card's surface chip is then activated allowing the card to work in a card reader at a point-of-sale terminal or ATM.

Touch and store read once technology, developed by SmartMetric for its biometric card, allows mass card issuing financial institutions to issue their cards direct to consumers without the need for consumers to come into a bank branch. This is an important feature of the SmartMetric biometric card, since most new card issuance particularly in the USA is done via the mail.

SmartMetric is a USA based company with sales and marketing partnerships in Latin America, Europe and United States. Engineering of the biometric card electronics is done in-house and is the owned intellectual property of the company.

SmartMetric has issued patents and patents pending surrounding its biometric card technology.

To view the SmartMetric Biometric Card please follow this link - . To view the company website:

¹ Data Source:

EMV is a registered trademark of EMVCo

Safe Harbor Statement: Forward-Looking Statements in this press release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Also such forward-looking statements are within the meaning of that term in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Our actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "likely," "will," "would" and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by us and our management, are inherently uncertain. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among others, if we are unable to access the capital necessary to fund current operations or implement our plans for growth; changes in the competitive environment in our industry and the markets where we operate; our ability to access the capital markets; and other risks discussed in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K, which filings are available from the SEC. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which are made as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any of these forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, new information or future events, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable laws. If we update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements. Investors and security holders are urged to carefully review and consider each of SmartMetric Inc. public filings with the SEC, including but not limited to, if applicable, Annual Reports on Form 10-K, proxy statements, Current Reports on Form 8-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

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