Japan to Introduce Payment Option Using Only Fingerprints

According to Engadget, Japan will test a new system this summer that will allow travelers to make purchases at key tourist locations using just their fingerprints. Travelers would have to register their fingerprints at the airport prior to shopping at 300 participating locations that include lodgings.

Inaugural locations are scattered throughout the country, including Atami, Hakone, Kamakura and Yugawara, but there are plans to expand nationwide by 2020, just in time for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Officials assure skeptics that the data collected from fingerprints would be anonymous. Although Japan already asks tourists to offer their fingerprints when entering the country, this new program would take things one step further by connecting prints to specific shopping habits.

Source: Travelweek News