Shopping at the tip of your finger
Customers of a German supermarket chain will soon be able to pay for their shopping at the touch of a button thanks to new checkout technology.
The Edeka store in Ruelzheim, south-west Germany, has been piloting new technology allowing shoppers to pay for goods by placing their finger on a scanner at the checkout.
The scanner compares the shopper's fingerprint with details of their identity stored in the supermarket's database, alongside bank details.
Edeka bosses, who tapped into the new technology in November, are now planning to roll out the equipment in the rest of their stores, reports Reuters.
The company claims customers could save up to 40 seconds by using the hands-on approach and avoiding scrabbling for coins or cards.
"All customers need do is register once with their identity card and bank details, then they can shop straight away," said store manager Roland Fitterer.
Edeka say they are confident the system can't be abused by thieves with sticky fingers. The company insists the chance of two people having the same fingerprint is about one in 220 million.
