Bank BPH in Poland is to install 'Finger Vein' biometric scanners across its branch network to provide customers with secure money transaction services without the need for PIN entry.
The Polish bank has been running pilot trials of the technology, supplied by Hitachi Europe, since June. BPH has placed an order for 1800 of the devices which will be installed across its network of 287 branches in Poland by the end of the year.
The palm-size scanners use infrared light to capture the unique pattern of veins in a person's finger. This pattern is stored as a template and used to verify the customer's identity on the next occasion they use the device.
The technology was originally developed in Japan, where it is now common place with more than 80,000 finger vein-based ATMs installed since 2006. The BPH sale follows recent European take-up by Is Bankasi, the largest Turkish commercial bank, and BT Group, which is deploying the technology for identification management of financial institutions.
In 2010, finger vein authentication was adopted by Polish cooperative banks for security of ATM transaction and benefits payment scheme.