Pub patrons pay with fingerprints

16 February 2004

STUTTGART – Patrons at a German pub, the Food Court in Stuttgart, pay for their drinks with fingerprints.

The inventor, Hoga-Data, won the Stuttgart Trade Fair innovation prize.

Drinkers at the beer garden in Heilbronn, near Stuttgart, need no cash: they simply give their names, fingerprints and sign an authority to deduct drinking money from their bank accounts.

A touch of the finger on a tiny electronic keypad at the bar prompts a withdrawal. The system has been in use for several months.

The Hoga-Data firm said the software reads 24 unique features from every fingertip and matches every print to the right payer.

DPA
Subject: German news