Biometric ATMs Appearing in Europe

Hitachi has produced a finger tip scanner that scans patterns of micro veins beneath the surface of the skin rather than finger prints and has managed to get the scanners installed in ATM machines in Warsaw, Poland.  Poland's cooperative BPS bank claims to be the first bank in Europe to install biometric identity verification on it's ATMs.

Hitachi claims the likelihood of a false positive is about 1 in 1 million, or roughly as accurate as an iris scan which is generally accepted as the most secure of methods to date. Perhaps I watch too many spy movies but the first thing that came to my mind was quickly dispelled as I read further in CNN's article, "And before you ask, no -- it doesn't work with fingers that have been chopped off,"  said Peter Jones, Hitachi's head of security and solutions in Europe. (Admit it, you were thinking it too!)

I hadn't realized that Poland was so forward thinking but Jone's goes on to say "It's no surprise that Poland is the first in Europe. They are one of the most proactive at addressing the challenges of the information age. When they host the EU presidency in 2012, they want to say to the world: 'Look at what we've achieved.'"

Social Networks As Money Transfer Brokers?

Wired has a fascinating new article "The Future of Money: It's Flexible, Frictionless, and (Almost) Free" which takes a look at the growing number of methods to exchange money online. Way beyond PayPal, credit card companies and the banks themselves, payment systems are coming online at a furious pace attempting to strip down the fees and dethrone the venerable stalwarts of the industry. Utilizing social sites and the opened up engines some of the largest online retailers, developers are finding new ways of exchanging cash and making it more cost effective.

It's a lengthy article but well worth the read if you are wondering how money will be exchanged in the future... and dare I say, the future is nigh!

Here's a sample:

"Whatever the future of payments looks like, it will probably be brought about by people like Christian Lanng. A tall and wide 31-year-old with a booming, operatic voice, Lanng is sitting on the couch of his venture backer’s house in Copenhagen. When he talks about the way banks and credit card companies process payments, he gets so upset that his entire body tenses and his voice rises until it’s echoing off the stark white walls. “This is the main battleground of capitalism!” he says. “This is the heart of it.”" 

Canadian Carriers Team Up To Offer Money Transfer Through Cellphones

The big 3 Canadian mobile phone carriers, Rogers, Bell, and Telus have collaborated to form a jointly owned company called EnStream LP. “The end vision is you can take your billfold or purse and stick it into your phone,” said David Robinson, vice-president of new business planning at Rogers Wireless.

According to the Globe and Mail, "The first step involves software called Zoompass, which customers can download from EnStream to their phones beginning Monday. It will let them draw up to $1,000 a day from their bank accounts and credit cards and send it to other individuals using the same software. Recipients will have instant access to the money, which will be held in trust by HSBC Bank Canada. Recipients will access funds by moving them to their own bank accounts or using a special MasterCard that will be credited instantaneously."

This type of transaction via mobile phones is not new globally, what appears to be new is the collaborative effort of the carriers which could, in my mind, have it's pro's and con's. Perhaps working together will keep the cost to consumers down, but we are talking about cell phone companies and banks here, neither of which have great reputations in that department...

RBC and Visa testing cell phones as electronic wallets

The RBC and Visa announced yesterday that they are launching a joint Ontario-based pilot project that would allow consumers to simply swipe their phone in front of a scanner to make purchases. The project will begin with laboratory testing followed by a trial for RBC employees and another, later next year, with consumers. Bank spokeswoman Anne Koski is quoted in a CBC web posting as saying "You pull out your phone at the checkout, wave it in front of the reader, and the payment is made for you, there is no pin, and typically you don't even get a receipt — it's that easy,". The program will only allow purchases of up to $25 and you will be required to contact the company if your phone is misplaced or stolen, similar to how you deal with your credit card in such circumstances. As big of a geek as I am, I just don't think this is a great idea. Convenient, yes, but I have an issue with the fact that no signature or PIN is required... I have the same issue with the new tap and go credit cards and key chains. There just seems to be a little greater measure of protection that is in place when I am required to sign or authenticate with my PIN. I guess, as long as the credit card company / bank is willing to take the risk with any number of $25 purchases that might take place between the time that I lose my phone and I report it missing, I shouldn't care. However, as consumers we all pay for these charges in the exorbitant rates that we are charged by the banks and their credit card companies.