Thumb Card

In an age of identity theft and worn down magnetic strips we need a product that offers us greater reliability and security.

Not more than a week ago I was sitting in my Financial Consultant's office. We were discussing certain unimportant numbers, when I asked him a question to which he needed to refer to his computer. He turned to his computer which had fallen asleep, but instead of punching "Bosco" or "Swordfish" he simply placed his thumb against a small black scanner.

Then a few days later I noticed a friend had this same inexpensive contraption on his home computer. Why don't banks begin to tie our checking accounts to our thumb prints, to a point where we can slowly phase out the credit card? At a market simply place your thumb on the machine. Once you've gained access to your accounts a screen, much like what already exists in the grocery store, would give you the option of which acount to pay for.

Of course we do come across one slight problem; I believe that hackers would be able to steal digital thumbprints just as quickly as they could credit card numbers. A fail-safe in place could be additional codes sent seperately, or IP address confirmation when purchasing online.