Cub Foods installs biometric payment system

Cub Foods installs biometric payment system

Cub Foods’ three stores in the Madison area installed fingerprint scanners last week so shoppers can pay with a swipe of the finger – and at lower cost to the supermarket.
Scanning a finger calls up a stored profile in the supermarket’s computers that includes payment information. Pay By Touch, the San Francisco-based provider of the biometric technology, claims the payments cost retailers 12 cents each, versus an average 72 cents for a credit card and 36 cents for a check.
The firm says no fingerprints are stored in the system, only encrypted numbers that can’t be used to re-create the print. Other local supermarkets say they’re still wary of implementing the technology because of privacy issues.
Capital Times: In store: Fingertip payment