Discover Financial Services is to market finger scanning biometric payments technology from San Francisco-based Pay By Touch to its cardholders.
The Pay By Touch finger scanning technology does not store actual fingerprints but instead creates a set of 40 data points that cannot be reverse-engineered to a fingerprint. The data points are then converted into a mathematical equation that allows for a secure identity match at a retail point of sale (pos). Once enrolled customers can scan their finger and select a preferred payment at the pos.
Finger scans and account information are stored at Pay By Touch's secure IBM data centre.
Diane Offereins, EVP and CIO, Discover Financial Services, says: "By teaming up with Pay By Touch, we can continue to provide our more than 50 million Cardmembers with the latest in payment technology by literally putting all of Discover Card's benefits at their fingertips."