Payment at your fingertips as Co-op tests checkout scanners

Shoppers in Oxford are being offered the chance to ditch their cash cards in favour of their fingertips. Three shops in the area yesterday launched a system allowing customers to pay using fingerprint identification, as part of a pilot scheme by the Midcounties Co-operative.

Buyers can choose to register their fingerprint with the chain, allowing their identity to be linked to their bank account and store loyalty card. Customers will be able to pay by placing their fingers against a scanner at the checkout.

"It offers us a slight edge over the competition," said a Co-op spokesman. "It's a very tough retail world and anything we can do to encourage more people to shop with us gives us a commercial benefit."

The scheme is run by the biometrics company Pay by Touch, which is looking to spread further into Europe after enjoying modest success in the US. Representatives say the main benefit is speed, not just security. "The idea behind our system is that it's based on convenience," said Tom Fischer, vice-president for Europe. "Nobody particularly enjoys standing in a queue, but with this system the transaction can be quite a lot quicker."

The cost of installation is being funded by the Co-op. The system uses similar technology to that employed at US immigration checkpoints, and it is likely that the same systems will eventually be used in the proposed national ID card scheme which the government is trying to force through parliament.

But a spokesman for Apacs, the association for the UK's payment industry, remained sceptical that fingerprinting systems would ever be adopted into the mainstream. "At the moment this is only in three shops, which means that it won't be particularly convenient unless you only need to shop there."

Apacs has just forced through national adoption of the chip and pin security scheme, estimated to have cost British business £1.1bn. But it seems to be delivering results, as credit and debit card fraud fell for the first time in a decade last year.

Pay by Touch says the Oxford pilot is intended as another option for retailers, not as a replacement for existing systems. But it accepts that the scheme's success will ultimately rely on building up trust with shoppers. "A few years ago people had the same worries about storing credit card details with internet companies like Amazon or eBay. People used to perceive that as a high risk, but now most people see it as a low risk," said Mr Fischer.