The future of payment systems

The exchange of goods between human beings is one of the most natural things which dates back long before the beginning of recorded history. As trade became more frequent and complex, abstract representations for value were created and money was "invented". Especially in the last decades the options available for money transfer and payments have increased. In the seventies the credit card became widespread and the growth of the Internet and E-Commerce led to a great variety of electronic payment solutions. The latest trend in the payment industry are mobile and biometric payment solutions. Especially fingerprint based payment systems have been piloted and implemented in several different set-ups in the recent past. The case study in this book evaluates biometric payment systems based on the example of digiPROOF, a fingerprint based payment system which was piloted in 2005 at EDEKA, a large German supermarket chain. Up to now, customer reactions have been very positive and EDEKA is at the moment implementing the system in several other stores and plans to roll out the system country wide in the long run. The book presents a real life example of a fingerprint based payment system and aims at giving an academically founded but practical view on biometric payment systems to enable enhanced decision making for practicioners and managers in this area.