[John Locke]

Your print should be on file at the BANK not on the card.

I beg to disagree. Any personal data held by a third party is insecure, because the thief can always find an employee who will sell them the data. That's how most identity theft happens in the first place.

Anything I give the bank I want protected by one-way encryption using open source technology certified by an independent professional body. And if the bank is Citibank, I want the manager's firstborn child as my hostage.

[Chode]

the data can be sold anyway... the bank will keep it on file to make new cards from, so there's no need for it to be on a card that can be lost or stolen too.

i see the idea as a way to make money for the card makers and not so much as a safeguard for customers.