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Bye bye credit cards, hello paying by eyeball: The future of spending your money

Your eyes and fingerprints are about to become a crucial part of how you pay for things.

The way we live is changing fast. Every fortnight in our Future Focus series, supported by Volkswagen, we’ll look at how one aspect of everyday life could change in the coming years. This week: payments. 

“CAN I TAP?” This simple question has been at the centre of one of the biggest changes in the history of how we pay for everyday bits and pieces – and it’s just the tip of the iceberg of changes ahead.

Contactless payment came to Ireland five years ago and it has become the default way to pay for transactions under €30. And with the contactless limit possibly rising to €50 next year, its popularity could soar even further.

Even though it’s in vogue now, contactless took a while to take off in Ireland. After three years, it was only used for one in ten face-to-face transactions. But but that figure rapidly jumped to 45% last year, according to data from Visa. 

Elsewhere, contactless is even more popular. In Australia, it’s used for four out of every five transactions, while the Swedish have gone a step further. Only 2% of transactions in the Scandinavian country are made using cash, with card payments dominating.

Visa Ireland country manager Philip Konopik says it’s not just millennials driving these trends at home and abroad, all age demographics are taking part. This is why the rate of technological advances in payments are expected to become widespread even quicker.

“I think we are moving towards nearly a cashless society. Cash will always have some role to play. It’s important as a fallback as things do go wrong since no system can be ubiquitous.

Sweden is predicted to be cashless within five years. I think Ireland will get there, not in five years, but I think within 10 years is realistic. You are already seeing some merchants moving to a card-only policy. That’s a tipping point, cash becomes so expensive for merchants to manage that they decide they don’t want to accept it.

shutterstock_454100440 Shutterstock / DGLimages Shutterstock / DGLimages / DGLimages

Extinction of cash

So the trends show cash is edging towards extinction, while the rate of change with contactless hints that people are open to new ways to pay. 

Dr Laura Bradley, banking expert and lecturer at Ulster University, says the likes of iris, fingerprint and facial scanning technology is about to change how we pay for everyday items even further. But will we be getting our eyeballs scanned to pay for a coffee, probably not.

“We already have facial recognition and fingerprint identification on Apple and Samsung devices, and the technology is there to support using your mobile for payments. But I think the way biometrics will be used is to access the device, then through the device you access your credit card.

So do I think they’ll use (eye contact) in retailers? Absolutely not. Sure people might get to a stage where they’re not looking to steal your wallet anymore, they’ll want to steal your eye.

Konopik agrees that a lot of this tech will sit in the background and facilitate people to pay using their mobile, all while making smartphones as secure as possible. He adds that artificial intelligence – in tandem with biometrics – will also be used to make payments more secure and predict if your card has been stolen or bank account hacked.

“Biometrics are increasingly becoming the way to authenticate. Within the next two years, it will become the primary way authenticate yourself at point of sale. It won’t exist in isolation, it will be combined with passwords, voice authentication, geolocation data – all this stuff.

“We create a risk score now, tracking the type of payments you make and what merchants you usually buy with to help create an understanding of your pattern. So if you suddenly start spending a large amount with merchants you never spent with before, that rings alarm bells with us.”

Artificial intelligence is also going to start telling us how we spend our money, according to Dr Bradley.

“Everything is being automated. It will be all about virtual assistants and chatbots to give you advice about banking. From a banking perspective, it will be about predicting how you use money and then algorithms will be making decisions about when you should change your credit card and mortgage, when you should use your overdraft and how to use it most effectively.”

Screen Shot 2018-12-12 at 01.45.29 YouTube YouTube

New ways to pay

So since cash is going by the wayside and payments through smartphones are becoming feasible, could credit and debit cards be phased out too? According to Konopik, we’ll be using our cards to spend money a lot less in the near future.

“Your card is just a piece of plastic. It is a physical representation of a series of numbers. Those numbers can be digitalised in phones and devices.  

When you’re at home you might use Alexa to pay your utility bills or order some takeaway. You will do that by voice and your card will exist somewhere in the cloud. You don’t need a card for that. In another case you might be online and authenticate yourself through a message on your phone. The card will become more invisible.

The credit card may survive a few years – even if it is in a digital format – but the businesses that really need to look over their shoulders are banks. Dr Bradley says if banks aren’t careful, tech giants like Amazon, Facebook and Snapchat could swoop in and steal their lunch.

“Banks are very inflexible and resistant to change, but they will have to change. They’re moving toward it in that they’ve started to close branches. 

“The problem is people will recognise an Amazon brand quicker than they will the likes of AIB. It rings for a different reason in peoples’ heads and they might think ‘convenience, speed, security, reliability – Amazon has it all’. Those are the pillars for a good bank. And Amazon is already lending to businesses, so it’s going to be an interesting future.”

More: Goodbye open-plan offices, hello couch calls: The future of being productive at work

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52 Comments
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    Mute Terry Dactyl
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    Dec 16th 2018, 8:32 PM

    No thanks lads.

    388
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    Mute Colette Kearns
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    Dec 16th 2018, 8:49 PM

    I’ll stick with cash thanks!

    290
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    Mute Bill Brown
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    Dec 16th 2018, 9:12 PM

    @Colette Kearns: that’s because you’re old.

    40
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    Mute Colette Kearns
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    Dec 16th 2018, 9:58 PM

    @Bill Brown: that’s true, but the older the fiddle the sweeter the tune!!

    175
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    Mute Bernie Roche
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    Dec 16th 2018, 8:58 PM

    Bye bye private transactions, hello corporate profiling

    193
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    Mute Patrick Nolan
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    Dec 16th 2018, 9:53 PM

    @Alex Reed: where do you get that cash at the moment?

    10
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    Mute Bernie Roche
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    Dec 16th 2018, 10:21 PM

    @Patrick Nolan: The point is Centra, Circle K and every other major corporation will have access to your buying habits in real time and will tailor their marketing to you specifically. To your detriment

    44
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    Mute David Daly
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    Dec 16th 2018, 10:30 PM

    @Bernie Roche: you don’t have to buy things that are advertised.

    13
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    Mute Milk The Drones
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    Dec 16th 2018, 10:53 PM

    @Bernie Roche:
    Not only that, it’s every governments dream.
    A completely cashless society is the ultimate Orwellian scenario for citizens. Having to store all your funds electronically and having every single transaction you make recorded and open to instant audit at any time by the grey faced men in revenue will make for a very grim society. Having said that, no more untraceable brown envelopes might actually improve Irish politics somewhat.

    45
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    Mute Bernie Roche
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    Dec 17th 2018, 12:19 AM

    @Milk The Drones: 100% except for the last bit. We had a minister for finance with no bank acc and he did quite well for himself

    23
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    Mute Bernie Roche
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    Dec 17th 2018, 12:22 AM

    @David Daly: You don’t but if all you see on the internet is what large corporations want you to see, your choices are very limited. That’s not just for consumer goods but politics as well

    13
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    Mute Colette Kearns
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    Dec 17th 2018, 3:14 AM

    @Alex Reed: yes and it would hit hard on people that rely on tips to make a living eg bar staff , waiters hairdressers to name but a few!

    16
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    Mute Sean Conway
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    Dec 17th 2018, 11:10 AM

    @Bernie Roche: They already have a tracker device in your mobile phone. they might as well go all the way

    2
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    Mute Pat Mullin
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    Dec 16th 2018, 8:53 PM

    It’s the biblical prophecy of 2000 years ago coming true I. e. the mark of the beast. We are living in the last half of the last Book of Revelation.

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    Mute tomcolgan
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    Dec 16th 2018, 9:14 PM

    @Pat Mullin: what’s that got to do with the way we pay for things?

    31
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    Mute Kevin Barry
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    Dec 16th 2018, 10:06 PM

    @Pat Mullin: The Book of Revelations was written my Jews in Alexandria who were messing with the occult. You can completely ignore it and all the other rubbish from the same sources.

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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Dec 16th 2018, 10:07 PM

    @Kevin Barry: What source do you have for that?

    11
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    Mute Kevin Barry
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    Dec 16th 2018, 10:08 PM

    @Kevin Barry: that is by Jews

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    Mute Stoneybroke
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    Dec 16th 2018, 9:30 PM

    Cash is king.

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    Mute Bernie Roche
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    Dec 16th 2018, 10:23 PM

    @Stoneybroke: Not any more

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    Mute Gallery and Museum Staff in Ireland
    Favourite Gallery and Museum Staff in Ireland
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    Dec 16th 2018, 10:04 PM

    Anglo Iris Bank….

    63
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    Mute Paraic
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    Dec 16th 2018, 10:31 PM

    @Gallery and Museum Staff in Ireland: Bank of Eyeland.

    34
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    Mute Michael Lynch
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    Dec 16th 2018, 11:08 PM

    @Paraic: A eye B.

    30
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    Mute Gallery and Museum Staff in Ireland
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    Dec 16th 2018, 11:35 PM

    @Paraic: Specsavings?

    11
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    Mute Peadar O'Comain
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    Dec 16th 2018, 9:17 PM

    There’ll be ppl getting their eyes cut out instead of their wallet knicked!

    73
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    Mute individual now
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    Dec 16th 2018, 9:29 PM

    And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
    And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
     Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
    Rev 13-18

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    Mute Josh Hanners
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    Dec 17th 2018, 1:57 AM

    @individual now: Yep, makes sense.

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    Mute @mdmak33
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    Dec 16th 2018, 10:33 PM

    Taking complete control of people’s lives.

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    Mute Sean O' Donovan
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    Dec 16th 2018, 8:52 PM

    Can they send thugs over the phone yet or is there a cross-border fee?

    35
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    Mute EdmundOrlando
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    Dec 16th 2018, 9:30 PM

    REVOLUT… you won’t look back…

    31
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    Mute dublincomments
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    Dec 16th 2018, 8:35 PM

    I use Apple Pay on my phone all the time. If a shop doesn’t accept, or forbid doesn’t take any cards it’s just annoying.

    25
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    Mute Pat Mullin
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    Dec 16th 2018, 8:59 PM

    This is the fulfillment of a prophecy made 2000 years ago re the mark of the beast. We are now living in the last half of the last Book of Revelation. And the last people to let us know are our people of our Indeed entry “news media” God help them. If there is a God!!!!

    28
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    Mute Mark Byrne
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    Dec 16th 2018, 9:21 PM

    @Pat Mullin: it’s grand. There isn’t!

    24
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    Mute Jackie&Rhum
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    Dec 16th 2018, 9:59 PM

    woo hoo! I’m a snowflake, I can take offence to my eyes getting used to pay. I’m blind, optic nerves aren’t correctly alined, they constantly move and i can’t use them as eyes, so god only knows they could independently shop without me knowing. So I can’t use this payment feature and Thats. not. fair. lol

    16
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    Mute Crom Cruach
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    Dec 16th 2018, 11:47 PM

    You can always change a PIN or a password. Can’t change your eyeball.

    15
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    Mute Darragh Hayden Art
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    Dec 17th 2018, 12:49 AM

    So much of this website is based on click , click , click it’s unreal , the news worthy relevance is becoming so irrelevant , it’s sad

    10
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    Mute Darragh Hayden Art
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    Dec 17th 2018, 12:53 AM

    @Darragh Hayden Art: btw I work in this cess pit , and that’s what it is ……

    7
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    Mute Joe Knows
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    Dec 16th 2018, 10:32 PM

    Eye ball fraud

    12
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    Mute DeFonz
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    Dec 16th 2018, 10:01 PM

    You need an ultimate arbiter of value ie a currency based on real economic conditions and I would never trust a nebulous blockchain crapology

    But for the love of your almighty what does Visa bring to the party other than being an old fashioned middle man?

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    Mute Mark Boyle
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    Dec 17th 2018, 12:30 AM

    @DeFonz: You can take a bit of plastic and use it in almost every shop, restaurant and hotel on the face of the planet. You can go to any website in the world and buy something with just 16 digits. You can revoke transactions that aren’t yours and get your money back. The merchants know they’ll get their money. People take the middle men (Visa and MasterCard) for granted but they’re very good at what they do.

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    Mute WoodlandBard
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    Dec 17th 2018, 12:25 AM

    Bad news for the blind people.

    9
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    Mute Kieran OKeeffe
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    Dec 17th 2018, 12:39 AM

    Paying An arm and a leg is bad enough..but eyeballs..I’m a consumer..get me out of here!

    11
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    Mute Peter
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    Dec 17th 2018, 12:24 PM

    Look into my eyes, my eyes, not around the eyes, into my eyes. You’ve paid.

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    Mute Dave C
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    Dec 16th 2018, 8:37 PM

    Eyeballllllll

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    Mute Quentin Moriarty
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    Dec 16th 2018, 9:18 PM

    @Dave C: SPECTRE technology (pilot Jack Petachi)

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    Mute Scott Hazel
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    Dec 17th 2018, 10:30 AM

    Get robbed for yer phone and eyeballs..

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    Mute Wayne Kerr
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    Dec 17th 2018, 11:42 AM

    @Scott Hazel: True. Having ones eye robbed from their head will be less figurative.

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    Mute Wayne Kerr
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    Dec 17th 2018, 11:40 AM

    @WoodlandBard: Yeah, because all blind people have no eyes…

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