Finger-Vein Authentication Brings Additional Security to ATMs in China

Can’t quite remember your password at the ATM? Even if you can’t put your finger on your PIN, now you can just put your finger onto the machine to withdraw cash.

China’s fourth largest bank, Bank of China Hong Kong recently announced it’s incorporated finger-vein authentication into 160 ATM machines across 18 districts and plans to expand to 400. The system uses a near-infrared LED to scan the finer and identify the unique vein pattern of the user and compare to the pattern kept on file. Customers are required to register only once to capture their vein pattern.

Finger-vein authentication is an exceptionally safe, reliable and secure biometric security technology. Vein patterns are unique to each person, do not change over time, are extremely difficult to alter or replicate, and the scanners used by Bank of China Hong Kong can be used if the skin contains sweat, or if there is peeling or blistered skin.

 

About 10,000 customers have registered for to use the new verification system, but the option for six digit password is not scheduled to be eliminated, therefor positioning finger-vein authentication merely as an extra feature.

Source: South China Morning Post, The Standard

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February 8, 2018 – Susan Stover