Paying for things with your finger. It's been a long time coming but may finally be a reality. And it's being called Fingopay.

While the name might not be as sci-fi inspiring as we'd hoped the idea of paying by finger is. Notice we didn't use fingerprint, as this isn't that.

The Fingopay system is currently being trailed by Visa Europe Collab and biometrics startup Sthaler. It uses the unique arrangement of veins and their systolic information in the finger to recognise the individual. This is recognised using near infrared light.

One of the advantages of this technology is that it means the person has to be there. There is no fingerprint lifting, removing of digits or any other nefarious method that will work as this uses the living pulse of a person to verify it's them. Since all the person's data is stored in the cloud that should also be secure.

The trial is going on for three weeks in the Worldpay London headquarters where employees have had their vein templates linked to their Visa credit or debit cards. They are able to pay for items in the building's staff restaurant using only their fingers.

Mike Philpotts, Innovation Partner - Authentication, Visa Europe Collab says: "By testing this technology in a controlled environment, we hope to better understand the practicality, usability and ultimately, the commercial potential for its implementation."

Here's hoping this proof of concept trial works out and we can do away with cards all together in the not too distant future.

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