Make Payments Using Your Fingerprints

A team from Carnegie Mellon is breaking fingerprint recognition technology into new ground with the development of a secure payment system named PayTango that uses a fingerprint scanner to identify shoppers and pay for items.

PayTango was designed to consolidate the various bank, credit, loyalty, student/business ID or gift cards into one easy payment method.

Seniors Christian Reyes, Brian Groudan, Kelly Lau-Kee and Umang Patel developed a PayTango prototype earlier this year and collaborated on a pilot program with the university’s dining services.

PayTango is a system that links a person’s fingerprint with a form of payment like a credit card or debit card. Rather than having to pull out a credit card from a purse or wallet, a customer simply places their index and middle finger on the biometric fingerprint scanner and the software automatically recognizes the user. Tied directly into a merchant’s point-of-sale system, the payment method linked to the fingerprint is automatically charged.

Developers say signing up for the system only takes 20 seconds. Users begin by having their index and middle finger scanned by a biometric sensor, then swipe a credit or debit card to link the fingerprint with an account number. Any card with a magnetic strip can be used with PayTango. Finally, users enter their cellphone number as a means of contact.

Once the account is registered, users can simply pay their tab by placing their fingers on a PayTango scanning device next to the cashier, and funds are deducted accordingly.

According to Techcrunch, the cost of each device is currently about “between $1,500 and $1,700” however the team is working to reduce the overall manufacturing cost and are interested in rolling out the payment tool on a wider basis around the Carnegie Mellon campus. The team is looking to install the hardware in locations that have a high volume of customers in addition to requiring speedy payment options. Besides fast food locations around campus, the PayTango could also be installed at businesses that require memberships like gyms.

Sources: discovery.com, techcrunch.com, digitaltrend.com