You will soon no longer need your credit card to pay at the checkout. Ingenico has in fact developed a revolutionary means of payment: the palm of your hand. The technology uses the veins of the user to recognize it and thus validate the payment. First tests will take place in North America.
For many years now, the bank card has imposed itself as the ultimate means of payment. Helped by the democratization of contactless payment, it has streamlined checkout while simplifying the lives of its users. But as practical as it is, the bank card is not without flaws, especially in terms of safety.
This is the problem that Ingenico has decided to tackle. This French company is not at its first attempt, since it has produced a third of payment terminals in circulation currently in the world. The latter could therefore have found the solution to the security concern of the bank card: replace it with the palm of his hand.
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This company wants to turn your hand into a means of payment
To do this, there is no need to implant a chip or have a barcode tattooed. Ingenico has in fact developed a new technology based on very specific biometric data, namely the veins of its user. To pay, all you have to do is bring your hand about ten centimeters from the scanner, which will then analyze the network of veins to identify the customer and validate the payment.
Security issue, we do not do better according to Michel Léger, Global Executive Vice President of Solutions Development at Ingenico, who assures that the palm of the hand is ” the most secure element from a biometric point of view, ahead of the iris, the veins of the finger or the fingerprint. » Furthermore, he explains that “COVID has accelerated “contactless” and the post-COVID period has generated a revival of commerce, with a need for more fluidity and less waiting”.
He’s not wrong: in 2022, contactless payments experienced an extraordinary boom, following the increase in the ceiling to €50 during the pandemic. As for Ingenico’s solution, first tests will soon be conducted in North America. For an upcoming arrival, if all goes well, on our side of the globe.
