The Veins in your Fingers Could Replace Traditional Payment
May 28, 2014 17:32:25 GMT
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Post by elizabeth on May 28, 2014 17:32:25 GMT
The Veins In Your Fingers Could Replace Traditional Payment Options
May 28, 2014 | Tom Olago
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It looks like conventional debit card and PIN usage at ATM machines could over time be replaced with a biometric option: Cash machines installed with devices that identify customers by reading the veins in their fingers. The Telegraph reports that the technology is already being rolled out in Poland, where 1,730 cash machines will this year be installed with readers, negating the need for a debit card and Pin.
The technology, developed by the Japanese electronics firm Hitachi, is also reportedly used by Japanese banks and also in Turkey. Isbank, Turkey's largest commercial bank reportedly had 3,400 Hitachi units installed by 2012 and Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank Ltd has employed a comparable system since September of the same year.
The system works through biometric machine readers that read the patterns of the veins just below the surface of the skin on the finger using infra-red sensors. The light is partially absorbed by haemoglobin in the veins to capture a unique finger vein pattern profile, which is matched to a profile. Hitachi boasts that the system offers “groundbreaking levels of accuracy and speed of authentication”.
The Telegraph also explains that a similar technology named Biyo has been developed for shops in America, but focuses on palm vein readings rather than finger based ones. It allows customers to pay by placing their hand over a scanner in a coffee shop or supermarket, using Fujitsu technology that reads the unique vein pattern under the surface of the skin of a palm.
Biyo’s stated aim is to "mitigate fraud, identity theft, and protect their assets and sensitive data by removing the barriers that made them vulnerable". To this end, it is useful that the accuracy of vein identification appears to be extremely high with Biyo claiming that the acceptance rate for a scanned palm vein pattern is virtually perfect with an accuracy level claim at 99.99992%.
The company also employs two-factor authentication combining phone numbers and palms, a feature that according to Biyo would appear to be lacking from the use of the technology within the ATM framework: “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”.
According to Naked security, cash machine users also need not worry about the consequences of having body parts such as fingers or hands being cut off by criminals looking to access their bank accounts – as Biyo points out that one limitation of such scanners is the requirement of blood flow through the particular veins that are being scanned. The only problem may be that criminals may not be aware of this or are likely to prefer to experiment for themselves in order to find out. Hopefully such desperate and gruesome incidents to rob or steal would not happen.
So it would still be advisable to “pay attention to who is behind you at the cash point”. These biometric systems are primarily designed to create convenience s well as prevent, or limit electronic fraud and impersonation. The systems do not put a stop to criminals intending to intimidate ATM users into withdrawing cash for them, or robbing it from them once they have completed the withdrawal process: these risks are managed through physical security prevention methods such as providing armed guards, and pro-active surveillance at securely located cashpoint sites.
Sweden too has joined the biometric payment bandwagon with an angle similar to the Biyo design: a group of students at Lund University in Sweden have come up with a biometric payment system that works by touching the screen with your palm and entering the final four digits of your smartphone number. An infrared scanner recognizes the unique vein structure in each person’s hand to identify them. The idea is called Quixter, and is the brainchild of Fredrik Leifland, an engineering student, who wanted to make paying faster and more secure. According to Leifland, the system is more secure than using fingerprints, and avoids the problem of card cloning.
Naked security, in a recent article titled ‘Are your veins going to replace your PIN at the ATM?’ quotes Hitachi spokesman, Pete Jones, talking about the use of veins as a means of identification:
“They are a physiological feature that is established in the mother's womb. As the person grows, they remain the same. Even if someone becomes very overweight, all that happens is that the pattern scales up. We have been researching this technology for 15 years and found it to be very stable”.
These rapid advances in hand based biometric payment and withdrawal systems seem to be hastening the day when cash, plastic cars, PIN numbers can all go away. When they do, your body will be able to interact directly with computer linked scanners for the reading and transfer of records and transactions related to virtually everything: banking and finance, payments and receipts, medical data, insurance, employment, business, legal and social profiles, and more.
If all this sounds somewhat far-fetched or far-reaching, it’s worthwhile remembering that it’s all happening already as evidenced by the examples already given; it only hasn’t become a mandatory part of our lives - yet.
Source: click here
May 28, 2014 | Tom Olago
Share this article
It looks like conventional debit card and PIN usage at ATM machines could over time be replaced with a biometric option: Cash machines installed with devices that identify customers by reading the veins in their fingers. The Telegraph reports that the technology is already being rolled out in Poland, where 1,730 cash machines will this year be installed with readers, negating the need for a debit card and Pin.
The technology, developed by the Japanese electronics firm Hitachi, is also reportedly used by Japanese banks and also in Turkey. Isbank, Turkey's largest commercial bank reportedly had 3,400 Hitachi units installed by 2012 and Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank Ltd has employed a comparable system since September of the same year.
The system works through biometric machine readers that read the patterns of the veins just below the surface of the skin on the finger using infra-red sensors. The light is partially absorbed by haemoglobin in the veins to capture a unique finger vein pattern profile, which is matched to a profile. Hitachi boasts that the system offers “groundbreaking levels of accuracy and speed of authentication”.
The Telegraph also explains that a similar technology named Biyo has been developed for shops in America, but focuses on palm vein readings rather than finger based ones. It allows customers to pay by placing their hand over a scanner in a coffee shop or supermarket, using Fujitsu technology that reads the unique vein pattern under the surface of the skin of a palm.
Biyo’s stated aim is to "mitigate fraud, identity theft, and protect their assets and sensitive data by removing the barriers that made them vulnerable". To this end, it is useful that the accuracy of vein identification appears to be extremely high with Biyo claiming that the acceptance rate for a scanned palm vein pattern is virtually perfect with an accuracy level claim at 99.99992%.
The company also employs two-factor authentication combining phone numbers and palms, a feature that according to Biyo would appear to be lacking from the use of the technology within the ATM framework: “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”.
According to Naked security, cash machine users also need not worry about the consequences of having body parts such as fingers or hands being cut off by criminals looking to access their bank accounts – as Biyo points out that one limitation of such scanners is the requirement of blood flow through the particular veins that are being scanned. The only problem may be that criminals may not be aware of this or are likely to prefer to experiment for themselves in order to find out. Hopefully such desperate and gruesome incidents to rob or steal would not happen.
So it would still be advisable to “pay attention to who is behind you at the cash point”. These biometric systems are primarily designed to create convenience s well as prevent, or limit electronic fraud and impersonation. The systems do not put a stop to criminals intending to intimidate ATM users into withdrawing cash for them, or robbing it from them once they have completed the withdrawal process: these risks are managed through physical security prevention methods such as providing armed guards, and pro-active surveillance at securely located cashpoint sites.
Sweden too has joined the biometric payment bandwagon with an angle similar to the Biyo design: a group of students at Lund University in Sweden have come up with a biometric payment system that works by touching the screen with your palm and entering the final four digits of your smartphone number. An infrared scanner recognizes the unique vein structure in each person’s hand to identify them. The idea is called Quixter, and is the brainchild of Fredrik Leifland, an engineering student, who wanted to make paying faster and more secure. According to Leifland, the system is more secure than using fingerprints, and avoids the problem of card cloning.
Naked security, in a recent article titled ‘Are your veins going to replace your PIN at the ATM?’ quotes Hitachi spokesman, Pete Jones, talking about the use of veins as a means of identification:
“They are a physiological feature that is established in the mother's womb. As the person grows, they remain the same. Even if someone becomes very overweight, all that happens is that the pattern scales up. We have been researching this technology for 15 years and found it to be very stable”.
These rapid advances in hand based biometric payment and withdrawal systems seem to be hastening the day when cash, plastic cars, PIN numbers can all go away. When they do, your body will be able to interact directly with computer linked scanners for the reading and transfer of records and transactions related to virtually everything: banking and finance, payments and receipts, medical data, insurance, employment, business, legal and social profiles, and more.
If all this sounds somewhat far-fetched or far-reaching, it’s worthwhile remembering that it’s all happening already as evidenced by the examples already given; it only hasn’t become a mandatory part of our lives - yet.
Source: click here
