Biometric Payment Option - Money at my fingertip

The new Calypso waterpark (opening June 7, 2010), near Ottawa, Ontario, will be using a biometric payment option, called "Money at my fingertip." Guests create accounts linked to credit cards or cash deposits. Throughout the day, guests use their fingerprint to access this account to make purchases. No more wallet or card to lose in the parks!

Actually this was first introduced in 2009 at Village Vacances Valcartier, Calypso's sister park.

Of course there are privacy issues, but they are not addressed in Calypso's media kit or FAQs for either park. Is the added convenience worth the risk?

Let's hope they keep the hand sanitizer nearby.

This is pretty cool. I always worry about how I'm going to keep my money from getting wet at water parks.

If they erase all data at the end of the day, I'm all for it. If they keep the biometric data in their database, for the reason that they can "serve their customers better for future visits", I'll hate it.

It's not like they want to insert a microchip under you skin or anything...not yet, anyways.

Well as a lifeguard at Kalahari I will mention that our time clocks use finger readers. And that if you have been in the water for long they have a nasty tendency to not work. Usually your fingers prune up and they can't be read, so this is something that I would still be worried about.

^That may just be the system that Kalahari is using. A park I consulted with used finger scanners for their time clocks and we never had problems with the time clock in the water park. I'm guessing it just depends on the system.