Visitors to Japan may be able to use fingerprints to make payments

Japan plans to put on trial a technology that would allow tourists visiting the country to pay for goods and services using only their fingerprints, according to local press reports.

The government hopes to boost the number of foreign tourists by using the system, to prevent crime and relieve users from the burden of carrying cash or credit cards.

Japan is aiming for the system to become available throughout the country by 2020, the same year that Tokyo would host the Olympics. Also, while one's fingerprint was meant to be one's most unique identifier, it would not replace other forms of government-issued ID.

By 2020, and by the time for the Olympic Games, it was expected that Tokyo would be fully compliant with the system.

When the state-of-the-art system is operational travellers would be able to make payments for products and other services using only their fingerprint, Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

Meanwhile, officials had rushed to reassure the public and tourists that the sensitive personal data would be securely managed and encrypted amid concerns that tourists would be uneasy about providing fingerprints. Then, while required to pay for anything tourists could simply have their two fingers scanned in the store.

For starters the system had 200 businesses participating, which is expected to expand significantly in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

Visitors would be able to register their prints at airports, after which they could make regular payments with only a tap of a finger, rather than have to carry a wallet.

Though there were privacy concerns about what happened to the fingerprint data once the visitor left the country, officials point out that an early test at a theme park in Nagasaki prefecture had proven popular despite the concern.

''The system has been well received by customers, including those with children, since it saves them the trouble of taking their wallets out,'' an official told The Japan News.