Having the option of paying by handprint: according to the Wall Street Journal, that’s exactly what Amazon is currently busy rolling out in practice.
Not a single fingerprint but the full scan of a hand would be enough to pay at special terminals instead of a physical bank card. A partnership with Visa would have been established to supply such machines, while there would also have been talks with Mastercard: two of the larger parties making debit cards.
A handprint would first have to be linked to a bank account before the actual payment could be made. It is also interesting to note that the suggestion is made that the large suppliers of bank cards do not have a direct link with the user in the first instance: a specific shop will have the data of the handprint (and the account) stored locally, and that outlet is in direct contact with the card supplier.
Security concerns
Using a scan of a finger or even a hand is not a new technology, but Amazon would be considerably more advanced in terms of data security in this case. For example, there would already be a margin of error of only one ten thousandth of a percent: Amazon wants to bring that further down to one millionth of a percent.
Logically, that is not the only question mark that is placed: the cooperation with banks to link accounts is probably only a temporary (necessary) measure for Amazon. As soon as it succeeds in linking payment data to an Amazon account, that third party can also be put aside.
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