Today's American Banker reports that as soon as next month consumers will be able to make debit payments using their drivers license or government issued ID card through the Fastlane Secure Payments network.
How it Works
- Consumers enroll at the point of sale. They swipe a personal check or enter the MICR line and assign a PIN number.
- Drivers license or government ID is associated with Fastlane electronic wallet for future transactions. System recognizes both magnetic stripe and bar-coded ID cards.
- Transactions debited from consumer checking account
- Consumer accumulates loyalty points with each transaction at a participating merchant
Benefits for Merchants
- No upfront costs
- Simple POS interface, no new hardware. Software is provided by Fastlane.
- Less expensive than credit or debit transactions
- Web based real time reporting of transactions
- Fee revenue sharing (on transactions throughout the Fastlane network by consumers that they enroll)
Benefits for Consumers
- Enroll in 30 seconds at point of sale
- Use your drivers license or ID
- Loyalty programs for many merchants linked in one network
- Deters fraud because your identity is authenticated against your photo ID
- Earn loyalty points
- Web-based person-to-person transactions
- Web-based real time reporting of transactions
- No fees
Like all networks, the key to Fastlane's success will be volume. Can they enroll enough merchants and persuade enough consumers to make the new payment method a success? Fastlane predicts that 20,000 merchants will be using the network within 90 days of its launch and 100,000 will be on board within a year.
Forte Financial will monitor Fastlane's progress and report back. In the meantime, you can learn more by following these links:
Fastlane Secure Payments network
System to Let Consumers Use Licenses for Payments
American Banker (subscription required)
Thursday, August 31, 2006
By David Breitkopf
