The San Francisco biometric payment processing company Pay By Touch Networks Inc. has installed its fingerprint scanners at Discover Financial Services' headquarters in Riverwoods, Ill.
The Morgan Stanley card unit's cafeteria started using the scanners last week, Pay By Touch said Wednesday. The installation is an extension of a joint marketing agreement the two companies announced in August.
The scanners let people use their fingerprints to authorize payments, which are then charged to a payment card. Users must enroll in the Pay By Touch network at participating merchants. The scanners compare the user's fingerprint with a stored mathematical algorithm that describes the print. If they match, the system authorizes the transaction. The system does not store actual images of fingerprints.
Payments can be charged to any type of card. However, under the agreement with Discover, merchants pay standard "card-present" fees for Pay By Touch transactions charged to a Discover card; other card companies charge merchants the more expensive "card-not-present" fees.
John Rogers, the founder, chairman, and chief executive of Pay By Touch, said that his company and Discover have tested the technology at retailers, and that consumers seem to like making payments without cash or a payment card.
"Creating a more convenient environment in the workplace is a benefit, and now that Discover employees are in the Pay By Touch network, they will be able to use it internally," Mr. Rogers said in a press release.
