AEON Credit Service and Fujitsu will begin a field trial of a cardless payment system using Fujitsu’s palm vein biometric authentication technology. Starting in September 2018, the trial will take place in selected Ministop convenience stores. This initiative will be “Japan’s first example of palm vein authentication-type cardless payments at actual retail stores”. As a number of payment methods have been created using smart devices in recent years, AEON says it has been weighing credit card payment methods that customers can use with more convenience and security. Now, from a number of biometric authentication technologies that can identify a person from a part the individual’s body, the company says it has decided to use Fujitsu’s palm vein authentication technology for its payment scheme given that it offers “high authentication accuracy, and also because it is contactless and sanitary”. It explains thath this will enable people to go shopping “empty handed” as credit cards and smart devices will be unnecessary. Customers use this service by registering in advance, adding their palm vein pattern to their AEON card information. When paying at a register, customers can pay with their registered AEON card by inputting their birthdate and then scanning the palm of their hand over the reader. Customers can use their AEON card without the bother of taking the card out of their wallet or purse. Fujitsu says because the information is within the body, this method can both reliably authenticate a person, with little chance of outside interference, and can be used safely, due to the difficulty of falsification. Based on the results of the field trial, the companies plan to roll out the technology for use in store locations for the various AEON Group companies. By the way, since being adopted for use identifying people at bank ATMs in 2004, the Fujitsu palm vein authentication technology being made available in this trial is now used by over 70 million people in about 60 countries around the world for a range of applications, from security, such as for corporate PC access and room entry management, to the current trend of going cardless for convenience applications. Last year, Fujitsu teamed with Silicon Valley-based Sensory to provide face biometric authentication for Mizuho’s mobile banking. In a separate development, and as reported yesterday (1 July), Fujitsu launched a new blockchain production framework which it says enables the development of a minimum viable product in five days.
Malaysian firm AEON Credit Service will trial Fujitsu’s palm vein biometric authentication technology in selected Ministop convenience stores from more than 10 years. The pilot is Japan's first-ever use of the technology in a real-world retail environment, although Fujitsu’s palm vein identification has been used in security and corporate settings for September this year and in 60 countries. AEON cardholders must register in advance to use the service, and can then pay for goods by inputting their birthdate and scanning their palm on an in-store reader. A wider roll-out will depend on the success of the trial.