Friday, April 27, 2012

ATM Biometrics Arrive




This has been a long time coming.  It was possible at least a decade ago when several developers identified the opportunity and created software and tools.  I suspect that it has simply become cheap enough.  The take home of course is that that pocket full of cards that we presently haul around is ultimately obsolete.

It still must take awhile but it all begins with the banking system.  The day is arriving when your bank recognizes you automatically through your palm print and nothing more will be needed and it will be bullet proof.  The protocol may still need face recognition also perhaps as a PR adjunct since it is also possible.  That way a person can be recognized as they approach the sensor.

Once the banking system has established the networks, it is easy to roll it all out into first retail and ultimately in perhaps a restricted form to even the private home.  The is truly technology serving mankind.

We are entering a world of instant recognition and also DNA reporting.  It will become almost impossible to commit a crime and avoid immediate exposure.  In time actual cash will cease to be used at all.  For the individual, it will mean superb security in the normal conduct of his life. 

Those chafing at the bounds of a normal life will need to seek alternatives or treatment if unable to master unaccepted desires.  Yet the need to do so will no longer be a taboo.



Japanese palm-reading ATMs to allow card-free transactions

22:29 April 11, 2012


Customers of Japan’s Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank will soon be able to access their accounts without a card on ATMs with palm scanners (Photo: Shutterstock)

Biometric technology has been boosting the security of a greater array of electronic devices in recent years, including homesbusinessesschools and even wallets. The technology has also made its way into ATMs as a way to beat card skimmers, but these machines still require customers to insert a card. Now a Japanese bank has announced that it will introduce ATMs that allow customers to carry out transactions with a scan of their palm.

Currently, ATMs with integrated biometric sensors identify customers by comparing biometric data stored on their card against data gathered by the ATM – be it fingerprints, palm prints or iris patterns. This means that if the customer loses their card, they can’t access their cash.
The new ATMs to be introduced this September at 10 branches, a drive-through ATM and two mobile banks by Japan’s Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank will authenticate a customer by only their palm print, their birthdate, and a four-digit PIN – no card required.

After registering their biometric data at a bank branch, customers will be able to withdraw cash and conduct other transactions without a card using the new ATMs. As well as improving customer convenience, the ATMs were developed in response to the large number of people who lost their cards and other forms of personal identification in the wake of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and were unable to access their accounts.

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