Another inch to cashless society

[slower]

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2008/04/paying ... html#posts society

[Reflecter]

an Inch closer but perhaps a step backwards at the same time, if this news is correct.

'Pay by Touch' to shutdown all biometric services immediately
http://www.paybytouch.com/pbtgo.html

Pay By Touch To Shut Down All Biometric Services Immediately

Biometric authentication transactions to cease at 11:59:59PM March 19, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO - (March 19, 2008) - Solidus Networks, Inc., dba Pay By Touch, regretfully announced today that it will no longer process biometric transactions on behalf of its merchant customers and consumer membership base, as of 11:59:59PM March 19, 2008.

On December 14, 2007, Solidus Networks filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11. As part of the company's restructuring, it was determined that the enterprise could no longer support the biometric authentication and payment system as it currently exists, based on lack of funding and current market conditions.

Other non-biometric Solidus Networks business units will continue on their current business paths.

Solidus Networks extends its sincere gratitude to the shoppers, merchants, vendors, investors, partners, and employees who have been supporting the company's vision since its first biometric payment transaction in 2002.

Which is good news, as they had been in a patent battle with BIOPAY and then they bought them out which potentially removes them from the game aswell. http://www.biopay.com/company.asp

In January 2006, BioPay LLC was officially acquired by Pay By Touch, a San Francisco-based company that also offers biometric payments solutions to retailers across the country as well as personalized marketing and payment processing solutions. The combined solutions of both companies serve over 145,000 retail clients, with biometric products and services for 1,000 retail clients in over 3,000 locations; personalized marketing opt-in products and services to 12,000 retail client locations; and payment processing for 131,000 merchants in both brick-and-mortar and Internet marketplaces. Together, we now have more than 3.6 million customers enrolled in biometric authentication products and services, and we manage opt-in personalized marketing programs for more than 130 million consumer profiles.

'Pay by Touch' were the only system introduced in the UK mostly in Co-Op supermarkets in Oxfordshire, so I hope they are no longer in operation. Can anyone in Oxford confirm this?