PAYMENT BY FINGERPRINT - A GOOD THING?

http://www.freemarketnews.com ^ | Feb 09, 2005 | by Michael J. Ross

[FreeMarket1]

PAYMENT BY FINGERPRINT - A GOOD THING?

Feb 09, 2005 - FreeMarketNews.com

by Michael J. Ross

While politicians in Washington, DC dream up new ways to collect our fingerprints and our tax payments, free-market participants in Washington state are putting into practice a new method that makes it easy for shoppers to use their fingerprints to pay for purchases.

Thriftway (http://www.thriftway.com/), a grocery chain which bills itself as "Washington's Food Store", is seeing greater acceptance of a payment system developed by Pay By Touch (http://www.paybytouch.com/), and first deployed in its Seattle location during 2002. Each shopper at their stores is now able to use nothing more than their fingerprint to verify their identity and pay for their purchase using a credit card previously registered with the store.

The system is proving to be quite popular with Thriftway's patrons, who are increasingly using and even demanding the new payment approach -- likely because it is fast and convenient, as well as being a technological novelty. In fact, one customer even drove 400 miles simply to use the new technology.

The President of the firm, Paul Kapioski, noted that they are gaining more customers who are interested in trying out the system, as well as winning the trust of senior citizens, who appreciate the additional security of not having to carry money to the stores.

Paying by fingerprint has its unattractive side - popular culture associates fingerprinting with criminals. But Thriftway has not experienced a single fraudulent transaction during the 2 1/2 years that the new payment ...................Full Article www.FreeMarketNews.com

[BikerNYC]

No freakin' way.

[RockinRight]

Way too "1984ish" to me.

[texaschick]

A sign of the times.......the end times.

[Blueflag]

Oh please - lighten up. God gave you your fingerprints, not the government. This is a [nearly] foolproof way to authenticate. It's a lot safer than the PIN on your ATM card.

[Republican Red]

I know I shouldn't like this idea but, my purse with id, credit cards and checkbook were stolen a few weeks ago. I found out hours later only because American Express called to tell me someone was using my card at a Texaco to buy beer.

In the hours that the stolen stuff went undetected the thieves ran up huge bills all around town. Although they also had my driver's license, it is doubtful that they look like a red-headed, 40 something, suburban mom. When the Texaco asked for id for the beer they ran. No other store clerks questioned the thieves.

If stores are not going to go through due diligence in checking validity of credit cards this finger print system sounds okay to me. Maybe in a few weeks after the headaches of closing credit cards, changing bank accounts, stopping automated debits, getting new id etc. I'll change my opinion.

I do know that I am for the death penalty for purse thieves.

[discostu]

I don't think popular culture still associates fingerprinting with criminals. Far too many places use it far too regularly, these days it's associated with security. A system like this is infinitely more secure than your PIN or signature varification. Credit card fraud is still a major problem in this country, a problem that costs retail businesses and credit card companies a lot of money, and those costs get passed on to the consumer. People gotta stop freaking out about every little bump in technology.

[from occupied ga]

Actually it seems more 1945

I believe that the camp inmates were required to have "biometric identifiers" (tattoos)

[dohcacr]

Is it? You leave your fingerprints everywhere you touch. How long do you think it would be before a fingerprint could be duplicated and laminated to the tip of someone's finger. A pin number is not as easy as a fingerprint to collect.

[goodnesswins]

Sheesh....Home Depot CARDS me ALL the time......for trying to charge things. I have to show my drivers license....and I'm a white, middle aged woman....if fingerprints could make it safer to fly, NOW that MIGHT be an idea.....

[Recovering_Democrat]

Fine with me. Who is gonna steal my finger to pay? Actually, I want to keep my American Express Membership Rewards Card...I like earning free airline flights. :)

[Rhetorical pi2]

Hmmm.....well it DOES have this Big Brother kind of feel to it.However, "Identity Theft" would be a bit more difficult.

I don't suppose it would bother me much. I'm always showing my driver's license and such anyway.

Will chopping somone's finger off to use for ID become the next fad in crime? (Kidding!!)

[Cultural Jihad]

The system is proving to be quite popular with Thriftway's patrons, who are increasingly using and even demanding the new payment approach -- likely because it is fast and convenient . . .

File it under the meeting of freewill and innovation, both themes of which get the doubters, detractors, and chicken-littles to crawl out of the woodwork.

[Bald Eagle777]

Bad news. Anyone with their head screwed on straight can see what's coming. Get ready. No one saw this one coming from the "free market" .. I wonder if this will ever be "mandatory" .. Let's hope and pray NOT. Let's send all of this technology to China or North Korea, countries that really deserve this and ban it here.

[wadingthrough]

Mark of the Beast?

[Cultural Jihad]

So God is a beast, eh? Better leave theology to the professionals.

[maine-iac7]

lemmings over the cliff

yeah, I want everyone to have access to my fingerprints - not

not to mention - what a nice record of where you go when

[Hildy]

I've been doing it at my tanning salon for over a year. It makes sense there because you pay a monthly fee for unlimited services and they want to make sure that you're the only one using your membership. So you have to put your finger on an electrical device and they see if it's a match on the computer. It's kinda cool.

[Cultural Jihad]

Elizabethan collars are the Mark of the Beast!

[Reeses]

my purse with id, credit cards and checkbook were stolen a few weeks ago

Yes, but all these things can be replaced. Once your fingerprint is stolen, you can't get a new one. You don't smudge your credit card number on everything you touch like your fingerprint, making it harder to steal.

Don't put it past drug addicts to cut off your finger for a few bucks. Biometric security is not a good idea.