You Can Now Pay ‘By Vein’ For Groceries

A London supermarket has begun trialling a new biometric payment system that uses the unique vein pattern in fingertips to pay for goods.

The Costcutter supermarket at the prestigious Brunel University in London, is the new test-bed for this biometric payment system that allows customers to check out with a tap of their finger, in the same way that many people currently tap their smartphone or credit card.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how much of a sadist you are, the new system that doesn’t draw blood from your finger to verify your identity. Instead the sensor looks inside your finger at the unique pattern of veins that run inside it.

One of the biggest advantages this tech has over fingerprint sensors is that it’s much harder to copy and can’t be easily fooled. 

Today’s millennial generation now expects a higher level of ease, security and efficiency from the way that we pay,  says Nick Dryden, CEO of Stahler

Blade Runner tech?

The technology, originally developed by electronics giant Hitachi, is being utilized in London by the biometric payments company Sthaler.

Nick Dryden, chief executive of Sthaler, said the system should appeal to young people and expects the new system to be popular.

“Today’s millennial generation now expects a higher level of ease, security and efficiency from the way that we pay,”  said Nick Dryden, CEO of Stahler in an interview with the Telegraph newspaper. ‘The technology uses an infrared light to create a detailed map of the vein pattern in your finger. It requires the person to be alive, meaning in the unlikely event criminal hacks off someone’s finger, it would not work.”(Reassuring, eh?)

Stahler also said new users can be registered in under a minute, and that paying by finger takes mere seconds.

New tech?

No, this type of biometric identification has been used for quite a few years now, but up until now has been used almost exclusively, where high level authentication and security has been necessary.

While the new system isn’t perhaps that much more convenient or easier than tapping your phone or credit card to pay for goods it is way cooler and now even if you lose your wallet and your phone, you can just use your finger, which is nice. 

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