Abstract
This paper describes a biometric method for user authentication on smart cards. Smart cards are chip cards with the ability for data processing directly on the card. They are not only usable for storing biometric reference data, but biometric user authentication methods can also be performed on card in order to protect security-relevant finictions or data on the cards. The biometric data under consideration are handwritten signatures captured by means of a graphic tablet and a special pen. The feature-matching algorithm is a variant of dynamic time warping, taking the limited resources of smart cards into account. It is implemented as an operating prototype on two types of smart cards.