The nation’s mobile payment service provider Danal said Monday it has rolled out the world’s first fingerprint-based mobile payment in partnership with Crucialtec, a fingerprint technology developer.

The payment system will first be applied to local handset maker Pantech’s VEGA LTE-A smartphone. When users download an application called BarTong, they can use their smartphones like cash in convenient stores. Instead of entering a four-digit password, users scan their fingerprint via the smartphone. “This will give users more security,” a Danal official said. 

“Since the iPhone 5S adopted fingerprint sensors, Android-based handset makers have been taking account the possibility of fingerprint functions,” said Danal’s payment business division executive Lee Seock-hwan. “We will continue to partner with Crucialtec to unveil diverse fingerprint services for mobile payments.”

Danal will eventually launch the fingerprint-based BarTong service in overseas markets including the United States and China, the company official said.

“We will step up our efforts to meet global demand with Danal’s diverse mobile payment system,” the company official said.

Danal and Crucialtec struck a deal in July in a bid to cooperate as strategic partners for mobile payment solutions. Crucialtec has served on the board of Fast Identity Online, an international online security identification consortium, together with PayPal and Google.

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)