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Fingerprint Replacing Debit Cards

Fingerprint Replacing Debit Cards


Keith McCord ReportingHow would you like to buy groceries of gasoline without needing a cash, check or debit card? Now all you’ll need is your index finger!

It's just part of life. Swing by the gas station, run into the convenience store, pick up something to eat and drink, plop down a few bucks, or swipe the debit card, and be on our way. But at Mike's Combo Shop in Provo and Spanish Fork your index finger will do either one

Biopay, a company based in Virginia, has developed this system to simplify paying for stuff. It reads the fingerprint then debits your checking account.

The device prompts you to place your finger on the reader. Store owner Mike Kelson, and manager Dave Wiscombe installed the system in February, it’s the first one in Utah. They have 2,000 customers using it. Across the nation there are 1,000 merchants online, with nearly 2-million customers participating.

Dave Wiscombe, Store Mngr.: "The other neat thing about the Biopay system is you don’t have to worry about forgetting your id, leaving your wallet at home or anything. All you need is this. Because people are finding that it is convenient, it's quick, they don't have to have an ID when they come in. They don't have to have a check, they don't have to have anything with them, just their phone number and a fingerprint."

Enrolling in the system takes just a few minutes. Bring in a check and a driver license, the numbers are stored in the BioPay system, so matter where these units are in the nation, you can use them.

No more fumbling through your pockets for enough change or tossing a crumpled-up dollar bill on the counter. Just make sure there's money in your checking account.

Since the system is fingerprint based, it protects against identity theft -- good news for the consumer. For the store owners it reduces processing fees, because checks or credit cards are no longer needed.



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