Cards: Biometrics Stalled Amid The Hype / Bank Tech News, Aug 2005

http://www.banktechnews.com/article.html?id=20050729VXE0TOO4Glen Fest
"Shortfalls in fingerprint technology are curbing widespread adoption of new card projects. However, a handful of small projects are moving forward, thanks to the technology's buzz.
Despite biometrics' growing impact and hype in the public sector, biometric-based payment systems could remain on the back burner of financial services companies for awhile. Standards issues, technical difficulties and low-tech hurdles-like a finger cut or a cough-ravaged voice-can play havoc with biometrics systems, raising the bar further for wide adoption of biometric options. "From an open-loop perspective, whether we're talking about bank cards or ATMs, we're a long way from [biometrics] becoming a reality," says TowerGroup senior analyst Ed Kountz.