Biyo FAQs

Security is our number 1 priority. We use an intricate system of encryption and verification to make sure that no one gets access to your data. We’ve partnered with Global Payments to secure credit card information on separate servers, and all biometric data is doubly encrypted before being passed with SSL.

[Read more about security]

Palm vein pattern recognition uses harmless near infrared light (think TV remote) to capture the pattern of veins in your palm. The technology looks for flowing blood, and is not affected by cuts or dirt on the palm to get an accurate reading. Furthermore, the sensor is contactless to ensure optimal hygeine. Palm vein patterns are secure because you can’t leave traces of your palm vein patterns like you can with fingerprints, and recreating a hand with flowing blood is practically impossible (not to mention creepy).

Biyo was founded in 2011 with one vision in mind: to use biometrics to enhance the security and convenience of every day life. With identity theft costing merchants, banks, and consumers millions of dollars every year, our goal is to eliminate fraud and revolutionize the payment industry by getting rid of all the barriers that makes payment complicated.

Biyo works by allowing you to link your credit cards to your palm at the point of sale at any location with a Biyo POS terminal. We use palm vein scanning to create a unique and secret password that gives only you access to your payment information.

Biyo is a point-of-sale register and biometric payment terminal that gives merchants the tools they need to grow their business while providing enhanced convenience and security at checkout for consumers. Biyo POS lets customers link their credit cards and other payment methods to their palms so they can leave their wallets at home the next time they shop.

Enrollment takes seconds and can be done at any store that uses Biyo POS. Simply go to the register with the items you want to purchase, swipe your credit card at the terminal to pay as you normally would, then follow the on-screen instructions to scan your palm. The entire process is 2 steps, and you’ll only have to register once to be able to use your palm at any Biyo POS across the US.

Biyo is absolutely free for consumers to use, and always will be. Merchants can either purchase or lease the hardware and software solution. More information is available on the Biyo Point of Sale page.

Very fast. By using your palm to checkout, you won’t need to wait for a receipt, you won’t need to provide a signature, and you won’t have to enter your zip code to verify your payment card. The whole process is 20-50% faster than using a credit card traditionally.

Although you can use our app to easily manage your wallet and view past transactions, it is not needed to register and use Biyo. Our goal is to be as inclusive as possible while providing the easiest and most convenient checkout experience possible. All you need is yourself.

Palm vein pattern recognition uses harmless near infrared light (think TV remote) to capture the pattern of veins in your palm. The technology looks for flowing blood, and is not affected by cuts or dirt on the palm to get an accurate reading. Furthermore, the sensor is contactless to ensure optimal hygeine. Palm vein patterns are secure because you can’t leave traces of your palm vein patterns like you can with fingerprints, and recreating a hand with flowing blood is practically impossible (not to mention creepy).

The acceptance rate for a scanned palm vein pattern is 99.99992%. We use your phone number as a second factor of authentication to make sure that your data is safe. Think of your phone number as your username, and your palm as the password. You won’t have to worry about people creeping over your shoulders to steal your payment information.

Firstly, we really hope that this won’t ever happen. However, even if someone, somehow, got away with sneaking a chopped off hand into any store, they wouldn’t be able to use it at check-out due to a lack of blood flow in the severed hand.

Registration is very simple. Simply go to any location that has a Biyo terminal, pay for your things as you normally would using a credit card, and then follow the 2-step process to complete the registration: Scan your palm, then enter your phone number. It’s that simple.

To add more cards, either return to any store and follow the same process with your other cards, or download our mobile app or use our online dashboard to manage your wallet from anywhere.

No, registration need only be completed once at any store, after which you’ll be able to pay at all Biyo POS terminals without registering again.

Although you can use our app to easily manage your wallet and view past transactions, it is not needed to register and use Biyo. Our goal is to be as inclusive as possible while providing the easiest and most convenient checkout experience possible. All you need is yourself.

All payment information is stored with the Bank/ISO in an encrypted vault and is never sent to the terminal. We use tokenization to protect your sensitive data and retrieve payment information without exposing or sending credit card numbers. Your biometric data and profile data are encrypted using a private key and stored on separate, secure Amazon cloud servers using SSL and AES-256 bit encryption.

We take privacy very seriously. No sensitive profile information will ever be shared with any other user or merchant without explicitly opting in. Merchants will only have access to transactions that took place in their stores, and includes necessary relevant info such as payment method (last 4 digits of credit card), transaction time and date, etc.

Due to the required architecture to facilitate biometric payments, we have partnered with Global Payments to create a seamless payment processing experience. At this time we only integrate with Global Payments and any other company that integrates with x-charge. In all cases we have been able to save merchants money on their processing fees by updating their processing, so this has never been an issue.

Our guarantee is that we’ll either match your current rate or beat it. Credit card processing fee structures are often confusing (and made to be that way to trick merchants into thinking they’re getting a good deal). Biyo uses interchange plus, meaning that we simply take the wholesale fee charged by Visa, Mastercard, etc. and add a small margin.

Customers user their phone number only as a second factor of authentication, you will not be able to access any information except transaction details for your business, such as date and time, signature info, payment method etc.