Technology is constantly changing and with it, merchants are always trying to find faster and easier ways for you to pay for what you buy. This is beneficial to them as well as you because the faster and easier it is to pay for things the better. Anything to save time and get back to what really matters.
New payment technology such as wearable innovations and biometric tech are the new things that are going to make shopping a breeze. Some of these include being able to pay with their sunglasses, face, ring, and palm.
Pay with Your Sunglasses
The most interesting new option is the payment-enabled sunglasses from Visa. They unveiled a prototype at several events simultaneously on March 13th. The Visa company installed a chip in the side of the glasses and to pay, all you have to do is take them off and tap them on a Visa terminal. No cards or ID required. While it is not available to the public yet, Visa is trying to determine whether there is a big enough demand.
Pay with Your Face
Paying with your face seems like something from a science fiction movie but Samsung Electronics is trying to make it a reality. They are planning to use facial recognition software for mobile payments from your Galaxy S8 smart phone. The phone will mix eye, fingerprint, and facial detection to identify the users for Samsung Pay. Using the iris in your eye is already being used but Samsung believes that facial recognition is faster and more accurate.
Pay with Your Ring
Customers in the United Kingdom can already use the world’s first payment ring that lets you pay for your shopping or public transportation with your finger. The Kerv ring will give each customer a personal prepaid Mastercard that they can even add funds to. According to Kerv, you can even use it to unlock your front door if you have a contactless lock. It does not need to be recharged and you do not have to pair it with your phone so you can use it even if your phone is dead. This means you will not need to get out your wallet or phone when getting on the bus or paying for your shopping.
Pay with your Palm
There is also a new biometric payment system called Keyo that lets you pay for things just by holding your hand over a scanner. To sign up, all you have to do is create an account with your credit card details. Then when you visit a retailer that has a Keyo terminal, the scanner reads your palm and maps the patterns that are unique to you. With this, you can just wave your hand and pay for whatever you want without a wallet or purse. Right now, it is being tested in Chicago but it has plans to expand to other areas of the world.
In the future, there may be even better and faster technology for paying for things. In addition, companies are trying to create technology that can successfully block all hackers to make this new tech safer to use.
