BNP Paribas to charge €24 a year for biometric card

French bank BNP Paribas is offering its Visa Premier cardholders the chance to upgrade to a contactless fingerprint option - for a €24 annual fee.

BNP began trialling the cards - which use technology from Thales - with customers last year.

They enable users to make contactless payments above the usual limit by placing a finger on the card at the point-of-sale.

According to local reports, all customers will be offered the biometric cards later this year but will have to pay an extra €24 on top of their existing €134 annual card fee.