Visa Europe Collab, the innovation arm of Visa Europe, is working with biometrics startup, Sthaler, and global payments company Worldpay to trial the use of Sthaler’s ‘Fingopay’ finger vein technology (FVT) in payments.

Worldpay employees are taking part in a three-week proof of concept at workplace restaurant The Hub – run by hospitality provider Bennett Hay – at Worldpay’s London headquarters. The aim is to test the feasibility and value of Sthaler’s Fingopay as a payment solution in a high volume transaction retail environment.

Employees taking part in the trial will be able to register their Visa credit or debit card to their finger vein template, which is encrypted and stored securely. When paying for an item in the staff restaurant, authentication will occur via the use of a FVT reader referenced against tokenised biometric data at the point of sale – with no card required.

Finger vein pattern is an advanced biometric factor which unlike other physical characteristics cannot be scanned without the knowledge of the individual and cannot be left for duplication as it is non-latent. Sthaler has further enhanced Vein ID to produce Fingopay. Fingopay is a cloud based cardholder identification solution that secures payments that benefit both the merchant and customer. At the point of sale, all you need is your finger.

“When it comes to payments authentication, security is paramount but we also need to consider convenience and ease of use for both consumer and merchant,” says Mike Philpotts, Innovation Partner – Authentication, Visa Europe Collab. “The biometric finger print solutions introduced by current generation mobile and payment offerings offer a practical and robust solution with consumers. Finger vein technology goes beyond these, promising further enhancements in terms of security and usability. By testing this technology in a controlled environment, we hope to better understand the practicality, usability and ultimately, the commercial potential for its implementation.”

Nicholas Dryden, CEO, Sthaler: “Our ultimate goal is to make payments even safer, even simpler and more reliable. The benefit of working with Visa Europe Collab and Worldpay is that we have access to some of the best commercial minds in payments. This will help us to better understand how we can make finger vein technology even more convenient and secure for both merchants and consumers.”

Nick Telford-Reed, Director of Technology Innovation, Worldpay: “The use of biometrics as a layer of cardholder verification in payments has attracted a lot of attention. The research we are piloting aims to investigate how biometric technology such as Fingopay can be integrated simply to improve customer experience and payments security. Our aim is to continually develop and enhance payments security, in order to provide increased reassurance for consumers and retailers, whilst creating the most frictionless experience possible.” 

The Proof of Concept is taking place at Worldpay’s London HQ between 2^nd and 23^rd November 2015.