By Melissa Plowman
Both index fingers. Check. 10-digit pass code. Check.
The shopping can begin.
The BYU Bookstore is testing out a new payment method for patrons that will allow them to pay directly out of their checking account without a check or debit card. The new method from BioPay, LLC uses your index fingerprint and a 10-digit code to act as your personal wallet. Though the Bookstore is excited about this new possibility, actual implementation could take a considerable time following this test period.
?It?s a system that allows you to pay with your fingerprint,? said Gordon Brown, the Bookstore sales manager. ?You enter your print and then your code, and it charges your checking account.?
The code Brown refers to is the 10-digit pass code, in addition to the fingerprint, that allows extra security for the device. Also, the system requires both index fingers to be recorded although only one finger is needed to use it.
?A person would give a scan of their index finger on both hands just in case you had a cut on one hand,? Brown said.
Rowdy Symons, creative service manager for the Bookstore, said with BioPay, patrons would feel safer because no one has the same fingerprints.
?This is a very secure system,? Symons said. ?Even if someone finds out your pass code, they still need your actual fingerprint.?
So far, the system is in it?s testing phases and is only open to full-time Bookstore employees. The Bookstore is making sure the new method will be an attractive option for the patrons.
?One reason we are concerned is only 25 out of the 100 full time employees have signed up,? Brown said. ?For us to pay the expense to get the system initiated, we need to know what kind of problems there are.?
Costs for the new system include new analog phone lines and making their computers compatible with BioPay.
The university telephone system runs mostly digital equipment. In order to add a required analog line for each BioPay terminal, the Bookstore incurs even more costs.
?The university charges quite a bit for those phone lines to be added,? Brown said. ?That?s where the expense would be and also in formatting cash registers so they interface with the machines.?
Brown is one of the employees who has signed up for BioPay but has yet to use it. He said he has a preference for his Bookstore charge card but sees the ease in the technology.
?It?s going to be a convenient thing,? Brown said. ?You always have your finger, which is definitely an advantage to the system. You don?t have to worry about carrying your purse or wallet around.?
One BYU student, Krystalina Berg, from Heber City, said she is looking forward to the new payment method and said she thinks it should be used at stores more and more in the future.
?Personally, I think this is great,? Berg said. ?Because of the increase in identity theft and credit card numbers being stolen left and right, stores will have to use this kind of technology for prevention.?
