In this age of ATM cards, it seems absurb that we once had to queue up at a bank counter when we needed cash. And once Hitachi's latest technology goes live, it may seem absurb that we once had to stick a plastic rectangle in a slot to buy things.
This September Hitachi will begin testing their "finger vein money" system, whereby users no longer carry cards with magnetic strips, but present their finger to an infrared scanner. Identified by the unique pattern of veins in their finger, they are then linked with their bank information and can make purchases and the like. The system is already in use with door-access systems. If the trials go well and "finger vein" tech goes into widespread use, it would take a gruesome industrial accident for you to "lose" your keys or ATM card.
via pink tentacle
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Besides the new risks, there's the problem of assuming that biometric identity is permanent. There actually are people out there who lose their fingers for various reasons. Can you imagine the headaches of reauthenticating yourself if something happens to your biometric "key"?
The real problem with financial security is that we've linked user identity to security. Instead of authenticating the person in a transaction we should be authenticating the transaction.
Designers need to start learning about real-world security because more and more of our products are going to have to take security into account.