Want some cash in Gifu Prefecture, Japan? Come September, you’ll be able to just press some flesh with one of Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank’s biometric ATMs to access your accounts.
These are expected to be the first biometric-only teller machines in Japan. The technology is already employed by some other banks, but in conjunction with a card. OKB customers will have to register their biometric data with the bank beforehand but will be able to get cash with just a hand swipe.
Unfortunately there is probably zero chance of this technology coming to the West. Why? Take a look at the seats on trains, your closest pay phone booth or the underside of the nearest desk. We can be pretty filthy, and anything that requires physical contact like that is guaranteed to be covered with an unknown slimy substance almost immediately. And nobody wants to stick their hand in that. [Nikkei via Engadget]
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