Apple's iPhone 5S has a fingerprint scanner, and now Samsung's revealed a print-reading Galaxy S5. Each allows for payments to be verified using a swipe of your digits. Is this the possible future of all transactions? Perhaps, and Visa is now exploring the area too to ensure it will be ready for the possible sea-change.
"Smartphones equipped with fingerprint scanners are definitely useful. There are all kinds of technologies that we are seeing, and a lot of innovation in this space. We're working with these technologies, and they are all very interesting," said Jon White, Visa's Head of Marketing, Mobile Strategic Alliances.
"It's a different consideration between drawing a squiggle to unlock a phone or putting in a four-digit password to access my mobile to what's required to access my bank account," continued White. "Secure management of payment credentials are the priority. I think there will be moves to form partnerships in this space though. That will continue, and we will pursue these technologies, but we need these multiple layers of encryption to preserve customer trust and integrity."