Hitachi, KDDI testing blockchain system for retail payments using finger veins

Hitachi and telecommunications operator KDDI are testing a blockchain-based system to settle retail payments. The trial will look to settle shoppers’ coupon transactions over a distributed network using their finger veins as validators.

According to a Coindesk report, the blockchain system is built by Hitachi with technology from the Hyperledger Fabric platform and is integrated with Hitachi’s biometric verification and KDDI’s existing coupon system. When shoppers sign up to use the system, they will register their coupon credits and biometric information, which are then encoded into a string of encrypted data and stored on the blockchain.

To initiate a transaction at a retail shop that accepts the coupons and participates in the blockchain as a node, shoppers verify their identity with a finger vein reading device that broadcasts the request to the network and the transaction is settled.

Earlier this year Danish debit card firm Dankort teamed with British biometric identification and authentication service provider Sthaler to create a self-service payment system using Hitachi’s VeinID technology.

Article Topics

biometric payments  |  biometrics  |  blockchain  |  finger vein  |  Hitachi