Goldfinger

Biometric payment systems let fingers do the shopping

Anne DiNardo
VM+SD Special Reports

Back in the day, leading-edge technology meant swiping a credit card to pay for purchases.
But the magnetic strip had to be facing a certain way, you'd have to wait for an approval and then sign a number of sales receipts.

Today, thanks to biometric technology, some shoppers are finding they don't need cash, a check or even a credit card to make a purchase – just a fingerprint.

One-Touch Checkout
Biometric payment systems allow shoppers to pay for purchases using a finger scan linked to their bank accounts.

This past summer, Lowes Foods (Winston-Salem, N.C.) tested a QuikTouch system from BioPay (Herndon, Va.) at its North Carolina locations and expects to roll the technology out to all of its stores by spring 2006.

"It helps us provide even faster checkout for our customers," said Lowes' president Curtis Oldenkamp. "It's one of the most convenient and secure ways to pay for groceries."

Customers enroll in BioPay's system by presenting a driver's license or photo ID at the store, choosing a 10-digit personal search code and having their index fingers scanned. The system records a number of corresponding data points to each finger scan.

Each time a shopper makes a purchase, the stored data points are compared with the scanned print. Then the shopper enters her security code, the system verifies a match and the transaction is authorized and payment funds are automatically transferred from a predetermined bank account.

If it seems like as many time-consuming steps as ever, Pay By Touch (San Francisco), which offers a similar system, says enrollment takes less than a minute and checkout less than 10 seconds. Also, the system automatically links to membership and rewards programs, so shoppers no longer have to worry about carrying those cards around, as well.

Once enrolled in a system, consumers can shop at any participating store or retailer. For now, grocery and food retailers seem to be lining up first to adopt biometrics, including Lowes Foods, Piggly Wiggly, Maggie Moo's Ice Cream, Jersey Mike's Subs and Roly Poly Sandwiches.

Piggly Wiggly (Charleston, S.C.) conducted a six-month pilot program with Pay By Touch's system, and is now implementing the technology at 82 of its stores. And several Jersey Mike's franchises in the Charlotte, N.C., area now offer BioPay's QuikTouch.

Jersey Mike's franchise owner Bob Katz said he introduced QuikTouch to his restaurants to simplify the checkout experience. He said the same type of people reluctant to adopt debit cards are leery of the new technology. But overwhelmingly, he says, his customers are happy with it.

As for installing the technology into his restaurants, he adds, "It's no more invasive than another credit card machine."

Technology Revolution
Just as self-checkout lines have revolutionized the way people paid for groceries, the same may hold true for biometrics.

After all, the goal is to do whatever it takes to get shoppers to buy something inside your store. Biometrics now allows them to walk in without a wallet or credit card and walk out carrying a shopping bag.

"I see this taking off," says Katz. "It's so quick, easy and simple."