Buy lunch – pay with your palm

Paying for a coffee or lunch by simply scanning your palm still sounds like science fiction to most of us. However, an engineering student at Lund University in Sweden has made it happen – making his the first known company in the world to install the vein scanning technique in stores and coffee shops.

Fredrik Leifland got the idea for his start-up two years ago when he was standing in line at the supermarket.  Growing impatient, he knew there had to be an easier and quicker way than using credit cards, and together with a group of classmates at Lund University he soon discovered biometric solutions. While vein scanning technology already existed, there was no system for actually using it as a form of payment.

“We had to connect all the players ourselves, which was quite complex: the vein scanning terminals, the banks, the shops and the customers. The next step was finding ways of packaging it into a solution that was user friendly”, says Fredrik.

Their solution worked. There are currently 15 stores and restaurants mainly around the Lund University campus that use the terminals, with 1,600 active users.

Security is a major advantage of the technique, according to Fredrik.

“Every individual’s vein pattern is completely unique, so there really is no way of committing fraud with this system.  You always need your hand scanned for a payment to go through”, he clarifies.

With ongoing plans to expand the business further, and other companies around the world implementing the technology, the payment method seems to be here to stay – and if Fredrik gets his way – we’ll all spend less time waiting in queues at the supermarket in the future.

See clip on youtube

Text: Lotte Billing

Illustration: Catrin Jacobsson

Published: 2014

Facts

How users sign up for the service

To sign up for the hand payments, you visit one of the shops that has a terminal and enter your identity number and phone number. You then scan your palm three times, and subsequently receive a text message with an activation link from the website. You complete the registration by filling in a form with additional information.