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MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- Six months after the first U.S. iris recognition ATMs were installed at three Bank United branches in Texas, initial consumer reaction is in.

The results are overwhelmingly positive. Bank United, the largest publicly-traded depository institution headquartered in Texas and America's first bank to pilot iris recognition ATMs with its customers, announced today the results of an extensive, independent consumer survey of Bank United customers who have used the new machines dubbed "EyeTM(TM)s."

The iris recognition ATMs, installed at Bank United branches inside Kroger supermarket stores in Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth, were provided by Diebold and use iris recognition products supplied by Sensar.

Sensar's iris recognition products use standard video cameras and image processing to acquire a picture of a person's iris, digitally encode it, and compare it with one on file -- all in less than a few seconds. Research shows the matching accuracy of iris identification is greater than that of DNA testing.

Some of the most notable findings from the customer survey include:

-- 98% of Bank United's EyeTM users described their first experiences with the ATM glowingly and used words such as: "easy, great, cool, impressive, exciting, fast, convenient, and futuristic."

-- Many of Bank United's EyeTM users cited the new technology as a
reason for moving their account to Bank United.

-- EyeTM users overwhelmingly agreed that it is more secure, more convenient, easier, quicker, and more reliable than regular ATMs.

-- The best liked feature of EyeTMs is that you don't need to use an ATM card (50%).

-- Bank United EyeTM users are more likely to consider Internet banking than non-users.

-- Most Bank United EyeTM users want to see more iris recognition ATMs installed around town.

"Consumer acceptance of iris recognition and Bank United's EyeTMs is
now a fact," said Ron Coben, Executive Vice President of Bank United
Corporation. "The survey results make a very compelling case for
expanding the pilot, and I look forward to talking with Sensar and
Diebold about that opportunity."

"Bank United's survey, and our experience with our other customers
around the world, validates iris identification as the most accurate,
customer- friendly and cost effective personal electronic identification technique ever developed," said Thomas J. Drury, Jr., President and CEO of Sensar. "For the 21st century, the financial services industry now has a solution for the electronic identification of its customers across multiple delivery channels. Whether at the bank teller window, the ATM, or over the World Wide Web - the eyes have it."

Currently, 15 banks in nine countries - including the U.S. - are piloting Sensar's products at selected ATMs and teller stations to authenticate the identity of thousands of customers each day.

Sensar uses the iris recognition process developed and licensed from
IriScan, Inc., Marlton, New Jersey in which digitally encoded images of
the human iris are used to provide a highly accurate and easy-to-use means of identity verification. With 266 identification characteristics, the iris is the human body's most unique physical structure. Unlike other measurable human features in the face, hand, voice or fingerprint, the patterns in the iris do not change over time.