Could a new
payment method that uses biometrics technology,
or more specifically fingerprint scanning,
replace our need to carry around a wallet full
of credit cards? The team behind PayTango
certainly hope so, although
its technology is still in the testing mode.
The YC Combinator-backed startup, founded by
four Carnegie Mellon University students who
graduate later this year,
has piloted the readers in
three locations on campus.
To use the technology for
the first time,
the consumer touches the finger pad with their
index and middle fingers and then swipes a
credit card they want associated with their
prints. It also asks for their mobile phone
number. The reader plugs right into a merchant’s
existing point-of-sale terminal and software.
Of course, the mobile payment space is already
brimming with competitors, and scaling is a big
barrier. There’s also doubt about biometrics
technology itself. The reaction to the story on
TechCrunch ranged from
“This is great, now
instead of handing my wallet to a mugger he is
just going to chop my hands off,” to “Biometric
ID makes for great press, but it really doesn’t
impress the real security community,” to “I want
a wallet-less future.”
The company, which for now
is eying a
dense networks of merchants and customers like
college campuses or gyms, is hoping to start
with a campus-wide rollout at Carnegie Mellon,
where they'll surely find a community of
like-minded geeks—and a good place to
experiment.
