A new payment method is being tested in 15 stores in Lund, Sweden, enabling 1,600 volunteers to make transactions using their palm as an electronic wallet.
Developed by researchers at the city's university, the technology can identify each volunteer by the unique pattern created by the veins in their hand. So, for each transaction, the user places their hand over a special terminal in the store to be identified. Then, all they need to do is type in their PIN to validate the payment.
The researchers have founded Quixter, a start-up for the commercial exploitation of the technology, which claims to promise speed and security, without the need for anyone to have anything other than their hand with them for their daily payments. In fact, registering for the service is just as simple and quick, during which the volunteer essentially registers a digital copy of the shape created by the veins in their palm in their bank account.
These were the reasons that convinced the 15 stores around the campus to install the terminals and, more importantly, the banks to participate in the trial. They claim that the dress rehearsal of the technology will be completed without problems, so that they can expand its use.
Since the pattern of veins in the palm of each person is unique, this biometric has been used in identification technologies before – for example, in scanners on computers, which in this way “unlock” the machines to legitimate users. However, this is the first time that this idea has been applied to an electronic payment service.
Source: kathimerini.gr
