I recently read a story (turned out that it was from last year) about Columbian banks launching Biometric ATMs. It appears that biometrics has been steadily gaining ground, especially in countries where identity thefts are soaring. I have had an opportunity to see biometric authentication at a company that expects fingerprints to log you onto the system. However, US, out of privacy concerns mainly, has been lagging behind in the introduction and adoption of biometrics in mainstream usage. That, seems to be in for a change.
October saw the annoucement of Pay By Touch, a company rolling out biometric payment solutions as a novel way of paying for groceries, good and other services. As this article in The Mercury News (free registration) notes, the company has already rolled out their Biometric payment solution in a couple of hundred stores on the East coast. From the same piece, here is how the Pay By Touch payment solution works:
Customers sign up once, by registering a checking account or a credit card, and showing government identification such as a driver's license. The Pay by Touch technology records the lines and ridges of their fingerprints, and translates the data into a numerical algorithm that is stored in a secure database. The customers thereafter never have to carry a wallet or purse back to the store, and can use their finger to pay for goods across the Pay By Touch network, which now includes stores in 10 states.
Keeping fingers crossed!
October saw the annoucement of Pay By Touch, a company rolling out biometric payment solutions as a novel way of paying for groceries, good and other services. As this article in The Mercury News (free registration) notes, the company has already rolled out their Biometric payment solution in a couple of hundred stores on the East coast. From the same piece, here is how the Pay By Touch payment solution works:
Customers sign up once, by registering a checking account or a credit card, and showing government identification such as a driver's license. The Pay by Touch technology records the lines and ridges of their fingerprints, and translates the data into a numerical algorithm that is stored in a secure database. The customers thereafter never have to carry a wallet or purse back to the store, and can use their finger to pay for goods across the Pay By Touch network, which now includes stores in 10 states.
Keeping fingers crossed!
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