Withdrawing cash or knowing your balance from your Automated Teller Machine is becoming more innovative nowadays.
The country of Poland has begun its usage of biometric scanners for ATMs. This technology allows customers direct access to their accounts with just the simple use of their fingertips.
The digit-scanning ATM was made possible through the innovative efforts of the Japanese-based technology tycoon Hitachi. This fingertip technology is now operational in the Polish capital of Warsaw. People in Warsaw can now have access to their accounts simply by placing their fingertips on the biometric scanner.
According to Hitachi the scanners have this infrared light that passes through the surface of the skin to scan and identify unique patterns in the veins. The unique patterns are then matched to the registered client to verify the user’s identity and eventually would allow access to the user.
Peter Jones, Hitachi’s head of security and solutions in Europe, said, “This is a substantially more reliable technique than using fingerprints.” He further adds, “Our tests indicate there is a one in a million false acceptance rate — that’s as good as iris scanning, which is generally regarded as the most secure method.”
Jones said that the finger vein technology is more reliable and secured compared to the finger print scan because the finger veins are also as unique as the fingerprint. It can also give identity to registered users just like the fingerprints. It is also secured for there is no way that the finger vein can be reproduced as it lies beneath the surface of the skin. Unlike the fingerprints, which at times can leave marks that can easily be forged.
The head of security also said that one of the many reasons why the Polish country adopted this kind of technology is because there is a rampant issue of identity fraud in the country and for Poland it is already a significant move to control the said issue.
This brand new technology is the first in Europe but it is already widely used in Japan. There are around 80,000 of this kind of ATM in Japan and already caters to around 15 million users in the country. It has also made impact in many parts of Asia, Latin America, and even in Africa. Stessa Cohen, a banking analyst said that people working in rural areas rather use this kind of technology since they are not used to bringing bankcards.
However, this technology has not yet made a significant impact in the U.S. According to Cohen, “If these banks are going to make biometrics an attractive proposition, they’re going to have to start being much more transparent about what they do with their customer’s personal data. They have to show that this type of sensitive information does not belong to them, but to us.”
On the other hand, Jones said that there is a lack of uptake in the Western countries because of the lack of commercial funds. He further states, “It’s generally the customer who foots the bill for fraud, and the banks have already factored that into their business model. Add to that the fact that it costs thousands of dollars to install a new ATM — and it’s just not worth it from their point of view.”
