World's First Biometric Credit Card Will Arrive in 2015: Pay with Your Fingerprint

Nicholas West
Activist Post

In a recent article, “In The Internet of Things YOU Will Be The Key,” I outlined the many ways that the human body will become the next-generation identification system. The move to give everyone a global unique ID that can be verified across all human activity has been in the works for some time and the applications are pervasive.

The fear of identity theft and cyber-banking crime has been the latest sales pitch to encourage accepting identity tech such as vein scanners, facial recognition, voiceprints, iris scans – even tears -  as well as their attendant databases. There is an ongoing cooperative effort between global banks and corporations to ensure that there will be standardized, centralized entry into the consumer/Internet/banking matrix of the future.

Another data point to note in the evolution of biometric ID is that Mastercard is now partnering with a Norwegian company called Zwipe to introduce the first fully biometric credit card, which will dispense with a PIN and instead use a fingerprint sensor for verification.

The transition to a cashless society continues apace, while simultaneously incorporating an all-inclusive tracking database from which it will become very difficult to escape if one wishes to interact in any meaningful way with a modern-day economy. Apparently, this means even a simple trip to the corner store:

Last month, he (Ajay Bhalla, president of enterprise safety and security at Mastercard - Ed.) remarked on the future of biometric payments, saying “the idea of running out for some milk, walking into a store and using your thumb print to make the purchase has sounded futuristic, even if the technology has been in place for a while.” He added, “We have already had great success in Africa, with financial inclusion projects which use biometrics to identify millions of cardholders.” (emphasis added)

Aside from the fact that fingerprints were only used to log criminals in the past, the use of biometrics in Africa mentioned in the quote above is certainly not unique, as India has implemented a biometric ID program for all of its 1.2 billion residents. Countries such as Japan and Israel are also well on their way toward cashless societies. This clearly shows the ability to scale up this technology to eventually include everyone on the planet.

As Brandon Turbeville has covered extensively, planet-wide biometric ID is the stated goal of corporations, as well as various globalist foundations. I would point you to the following articles for a comprehensive overview:

• ‘Better Than Cash Alliance’ Backed by Bill Gates to Usher in Cashless Society
• Facebook Banking on a Cashless Society
• Beyond the Cashless Society: IBM’s Vision for the Future

Zwipe does attempt to alleviate concerns about any type of crossover use for your personal biometric signature:

…noteworthy features about the card technology is that cardholder fingerprint data is stored directly on the card, not in an external database, and there is no need for a PIN entry. What’s more, the card functions without a battery; energy is harvested from the payment terminals. Activation is through a simple fingerprint scan; the bank card can be used anywhere that accepts contactless payments. Also, cardholders can make payments of any amount with the card. (emphasis added)

Perhaps, in this case, the fingerprint data itself isn’t stored in a database, but it would seem that the purchase information must be – just as every other financial transaction is. Perhaps it does, however, highlight a growing PR concern after multiple banking and corporate hacks have put hundreds of millions of people’s identities at risk.

These developments mark just how far down the path we are toward pulling everyone into the financial matrix. In lieu of ensuring that people must be given the choice to completely opt out, alternatives such as Bitcoin should be explored in order to maintain some of its very best counter-functions. One clear difference with Bitcoin and its attendant blockchain that needs to be understood is that it is inherently a decentralized, non-database structure that puts security into the hands of the end-user, not with any specific company charged with its oversight. (For a thorough look at what financial transactions and payment systems really should look like, please see this informative video featuring Bitcoin expert Andreas Antonopolous as he educates the Canadian Senate Banking Committee – it’s much more riveting than it sounds.)

Nevertheless, the biometrics agenda goes far beyond financial transactions, but this is the most palatable way to introduce the concept as a logical necessity to solve myriad problems with banking security. Naturally, the more people who are part of the banking system, the more people who are held hostage by its failures and are then forced to become integrated into the solution. This should be kept in mind as we find ourselves in the midst of a perfect storm of health crises where we are already hearing calls of Big Data to be employed for health tracking and BioSurveillance.

Health and finances are easily the two greatest concerns for the average person, so it’s no mystery why they are starting here. But what’s next? What other “threats” are looming?

Main source:
http://phys.org/news/2014-10-mastercard-zwipe-fingerprint-sensor-card.html

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