Shoppers and live event attendees could soon be paying for goods via the veins in their fingertips after Fingopay technology went on a trial at a London supermarket.
A Costcutter store has become the first in the world to allow payments using Sthaler’s Fingopay.
The technology works by using infrared to scan finger veins and then links this unique biometric map to their bank cards.
Customers’ bank details are then stored with payment provider Worldpay. Consumers can then turn up to the supermarket with nothing on them but their own hands and use it to make payments in as little as three seconds.
Sthaler has said it is in “serious talks” with other major UK supermarkets to adopt hi-tech finger vein scanners at pay points across thousands of stores. It has also held discussions with Premier League football clubs to check people have the right access to VIP hospitality areas, while festival-goers may appreciate the opportunity of ditching cash and credit cards.
Simon Binns, commercial director of Sthaler, told the Daily Telegraph: ‘This makes payments so much easier for customers.
“They don’t need to carry cash or cards. They don’t need to remember a pin number. You just bring yourself. This is the safest form of biometrics. There are no known incidences where this security has been breached.
“When you put your finger in the scanner it checks you are alive, it checks for a pulse, it checks for haemoglobin. ‘Your vein pattern is secure because it is kept on a database in an encrypted form, as binary numbers. No card details are stored with the retailer or ourselves, it is held with Worldpay, in the same way it is when you buy online.”
Sthaler said it take just one minute to sign up to the Fingopay system initially and, after that, it takes just seconds to place your finger in a scanner each time you reach the payment platform.
Nick Telford-Reed, director of technology innovation at Worldpay UK, said: “In our view, finger vein technology has a number of advantages over fingerprint. This deployment of Fingopay in Costcutter branches demonstrates how consumers increasingly want to see their payment methods secure and simple.”
IMAGE: Sthaler
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