Fingerprints to be Tested as ‘Currency’

Iphone owners already use fingerprint to unlock their phone, but to buy things using their fingerprints? Starting this summer Japanese government will let foreign tourists to shop using only their fingerprints. Using fingerprint as a new payment would “prevent crime and relieve users from the necessity of carrying cash or credit cards.” The government plans to roll out the new technology by the 2020 Tokyo Olympic. By the end of this month Tokyo-based Aeon Bank will allow customers to withdraw cash from automatic teller machines using only fingerprints for identification and omitting the use of debit cards. “The system is also superior in the area of security, such as preventing people from impersonating our customers,” an official from the bank said. Last year this new technology was already introduced on a trial basis in the Huis Ten Bosch theme park in which visitors can make payments with just their fingerprints. The government aims to showcase the country’s advanced technology when tourists visit Japan for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.