NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

SmartMetric, Inc. (OTC: SMME) having spent over a decade on research and development in creating a credit card with an inbuilt fingerprint scanner for the ultimate in credit card security. SmartMetric has protected its invention of a biometric fingerprint activated credit card with patents.

As the company moves ever closer to releasing its biometric credit card in association with credit card issuing banks a few copy cat companies have emerged to attempt to compete in the over 11 billion unit issued global card market.

Over the past couple of years a few companies have attempted to copy SmartMetric’s fingerprint activated biometric credit card. One of these copycat companies is the largest credit card manufacturer in the world based in Europe. In an attempt to catch up with SmartMetric in bringing to market a biometric credit card, this company rushed to bring to market a card that in many ways is inferior to the SmartMetric biometric card solution.

First these copycat card manufacturers cards do not have inbuilt power making them unusable at most ATM’s. Because they haven’t spent the R&D resources to develop a card that has an internal self-powered system inside the card, these copycat cards use the power of the card reader to power the cards fingerprint reader. This means these cards need the card user to hold the card at the reader for the card to be able to perform a fingerprint scan. Making these cards unusable at restaurants where the card is taken from the table for processing or at 90% of ATM’s.

The SmartMetric biometric card has its own internal rechargeable power source making its card able to be used at all card readers including ATM’s and restaurants that take the card from the table for processing a restaurant charge.

Apart from the obvious superiority of the SmartMetric card, the founder and inventor of SmartMetric, Chaya Hendrick, has issued patents from the United States Patent Office that stop any copy-cat from selling even inferior biometric cards, in the United States.

Simply, SmartMetric is able to protect its position as the only biometric card developer that can sell any type of card with a smart card chip and a fingerprint sensor on it in the USA. Patent protection has also been filed as well in other parts of the world. This protection against others from issuing or selling biometric cards includes any smart card with a chip and fingerprint sensor on it from credit cards to biometric ID and access control cards.

The founder and inventor of biometric “smart cards” Chaya Hendrick, realizing the enormity of the invention of a credit card with built inside the card fingerprint recognition for card security early on, applied for patents that would then be made available to SmartMetric so as to protect its position as the original and first developer of biometric activated credit cards.

“Without a doubt our strongest patents that basically stop any one else from selling any type of card with a smartcard chip on it and a fingerprint sensor, are the issued design patents," said SmartMetric’s President & CEO, Chaya Hendrick.

The issued design patents cover various shapes of fingerprint sensors that can be placed on the surface of the card in any place that on the card that a sensor can be placed. Effectively stopping anyone else from having a smart card with a chip and sensor on it or a credit card with a chip and fingerprint sensor from on it from being sold in the largest credit card market in the world which is the United States.

These multiple United States Patent Office issued design patents, give SmartMetric an unassailable product monopoly position in the US market for fingerprint activated biometric credit cards.

“Unlike other types of patents, design patents are the easiest to enforce as they do not require years of Federal Court litigation to enforce. Basically, all we need to do is take the issued design patents to the pertinent Government department and have competitors copycat cards seized at port of entry or within the USA at any office or warehouse," said Chaya Hendrick.

SmartMetric is in the final stages of QC testing of its biometric card hardware along with the biometric card internal software and embedded operating system. This is the final preparation of the SmartMetric biometric card product prior to presenting it to one of the World’s largest credit card brands and card networks. It is planned that then the card will be offered to various major card issuing banks globally.

“We know it has been a long development process and that many banks are wanting to have in hand our advanced biometric card however we are diligently testing our final product to ensure that when it goes live with issuing banks that it will be a fail-safe product. After years of R&D we are extremely excited to have our reached this final stage of our biometric card product," said Chay Hendrick.

According to independent research nearly 70% of existing credit card holders would freely pay $70 dollars for a biometric secured credit card in order to protect themselves from fraud.

84% of U.S. adults had a credit card in 2021. About 73% of Americans have a credit card by age 25, making credit cards the most common first credit experience for young adults.¹

In Q4 2022, credit card users reached a total of 166 million according to TransUnion, up from the prior three years. Among those users, new card accounts are growing, too. Over the past year, nearly half the population (47.5%) opened at least one new account, bringing the total number of accounts to over 518 million by the end of 2022.¹

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

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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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