Fujitsu palm vein tech to be tested for cardless retail payments in Japan

Japan’s AEON Credit Service and Fujitsu will begin a field trial of a cardless retail payment system using biometric palm vein authentication technology from Fujitsu in September of this year at selected Ministop convenience stores. The companies say it is the country’s first use of palm vein biometrics for cardless payment at actual retail stores.

A number of payment methods using smart devices were considered by AEON Credit Service to improve the convenience and security of its credit card payments, and Fujitsu’s palm vein technology was chosen for its high authentication accuracy, and also because it is contactless and sanitary, according to the announcement. Once customers have registered their palm vein biometrics with AEON, they can pay by simply inputting their birth dates and scanning their biometrics.

The field trial will begin with AEON Group employees, and based on the trial’s results plan to roll out palm vein authentication to other store locations and various AEON Group companies.

Fujitsu says its palm vein authentication technology is currently used by more than 70 million people in about 60 countries worldwide, and sales of its PalmSecure sensors passed 1 million units earlier this year.

AEON Bank began trialing fingerprint and finger vein authentication at ATMs and teller windows in late 2017.

Article Topics

biometric payments  |  biometrics  |  Fujitsu  |  palm vein authentication  |  retail biometrics