Article
Body talk
Biometric identification methods such as iris scanning and fingerprint imaging may eliminate the need for a PIN at the ATM. by Ann All, editor
March 11, 2002
Identical twins Michael and Richard Swartz may be able to fool the tellers at Bank United of Texas, but they can't fool ATMs outfitted with iris recognition technology.
In a demonstration earlier this month, Rice University graduate student Richard Swartz had his iris photographed at a Bank United branch in Houston. He was then able to withdraw $40 from his account at an ATM -- without using a card or a PIN. Michael, however, was unable to access his twin's account.
The clever publicity stunt marks the first broad rollout of iris identification technology in a U.S. ATM network. Twelve pilots are currently under way around the world; the most high profile to date has been at the Nationwide Building Society, England's largest savings and loan.
Bank United, a Houston-based thrift with 141 branches and $14.9 billion in assets, has added Sensar Inc.'s cameras to Diebold ATMs at three branches in Kroger supermarkets. Bank United spokesman Joe Arbona said iris scanning will likely be added to ATMs at another 45 Kroger banking centers. Current plans don't call for adding the technology to older machines at other branches.
Bank United Executive Vice President Ron Coben became fascinated with iris scanning after seeing it demonstrated at several industry trade shows. He thought the bank's new Kroger branches would be an ideal venue for it.
"It's no longer just a novelty at a trade show. We're bringing the technology to people at their local grocery store," Arbona said.
A bank customer enrolls in the program by having a photograph of his eye taken; it's converted to a bar code and stored in a database. Then when he steps up to a Bank United ATM, a camera mounted in the machine photographs his iris, digitally encodes it and checks it against the stored bar code.
If there's a match, the ATM allows instant access to the user's account. No match, no access. While the bar codes include more than 260 different points of information, they require little computer memory.
The process takes only a few seconds and presents no danger to the user's eye. Identification can be made through glasses, contact lenses and most sunglasses.
Sensar licenses the iris recognition and process technology from IriScan of Marlton, N.J.
Bank United customers who aren't comfortable with the technology can still use their card and PIN. "It's an option. They don't have to use (iris scanning) if they don't want to," Arbona said. "It's like using a Social Security number. Some people will give it out quite readily; others don't."
"Combining the two technologies in one machine allows you to transfer customers from one technology to the other," said Mark Radke, Diebold's worldwide marketing manager. "If they're comfortable using a card and PIN now, maybe they'll eventually try iris recognition on that same machine."
From pharaohs to finance
Radke discovered in his research that the use of biometrics dates back to ancient Egypt, where the pharaohs used height to verify a person's identity. Modern consumers insist on a more accurate approach, particularly when personal finances are involved.
"When you're using it to protect someone's bank account, you want to make sure that the amounts of false accepts and false rejects are at a minimum," Radke said.
According to Sensar spokesman David Shane, no user of his company's system has ever experienced a false accept, and false rejects are rare. "Our observed FAR is zero percent. No other biometric technology can say that."
Bank United is the first Sensar client to use iris scanning for recognition, with no card required, as opposed to identification, in which an ATM user's identity is confirmed after he inserts his card. Eliminating the need for both card and PIN offers more customer convenience, Shane said.
Noting that widespread acceptance of biometrics will be "a slow evolution," Radke said that manufacturers like Diebold are getting involved because of the technology's improved accuracy and falling costs. "We believe we're at a starting point here, but I think because of the interest we've seen just from this Bank United installation that it will continue to grow."
It costs $3,000 to $5,000 to add iris scanning to an ATM. Radke said that most newer Diebold models, including cash dispensers, can be outfitted with iris scanning. The exceptions are the CashSource Plus line and ATMs with non-CTP processors. Diebold has demonstrated the application on its cash dispensers at several trade shows. Bank United upgraded its 1062ix machines.
Meanwhile, Moorestown, N.J.-based Sensar continues to look at other areas where its technology could be deployed at a bank, including teller stations and safety deposit box repositories. Shane said iris scanning is appropriate for "any financial transaction where it's important the bank knows who you are."
Sensar plans to introduce an application for PCs this summer. For personal use, it will add an enhanced level of security to home banking. Corporations can use it to control access to NT systems. Because the PC product uses one small camera compared to the three used on an ATM, Shane said it will be much cheaper. "You'll see it on the shelf of CompUSA for a couple hundred bucks."
Not all thumbs
Another method of biometric identification that can be used at an ATM is fingerprint imaging. Fingerprint readers from Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Identix Inc. have been installed on South African ATMs to distribute electronic benefits. In Australia, the technology is used at ATMs and also at 500 Woolworth stores, where 100,000 employees use it in lieu of a time clock.
In the U.S., the biggest market for fingerprint readers is police departments. Breaking into the ATM market is difficult, Identix Chairman and CEO Randy Fowler said, because of its complex infrastructure and wide geographic reach.
"It's a little bit easier to implement in areas that haven't been as highly automated. They can be early innovators," he explained.
While acknowledging that "iris scanning is as good a product as ours," Fowler predicts that fingerprint imaging will become the dominant biometric identification method because of its lower cost and relative simplicity. "The hardware doesn't have to be any larger than the tip of your finger."
Fowler said the use of his company's technology will grow as the market for smart cards develops in the U.S. "The idea there is you can store the fingerprint template on a card and carry it around with you as opposed to storing it on some central database."
Identix readers register the ridges and valleys of a fingerprint, while removing distortions like grit and grime.
"Dirt isn't an issue unless you have so much grease on your finger that it fills up the valleys between the ridges," Fowler said. "The technology works off the three dimensional aspects of a fingerprint. Dirt is just a two-dimensional noise that is removed electronically."
Fowler said the technology continues to improve all the time. The readers have been fine-tuned to the point where they can recognize a real finger over an artificial one and a live finger over a dead one. If a person cuts a finger, he can substitute another finger that was previously scanned. If a thief tries to force an ATM user to access his account, he can use another, pre-designated finger to trigger a silent alarm.
Like Sensar, Identix is interested in the PC market. Compaq sells an Identix fingerprint reader as a peripheral with its machines, and KeyTronic Corp. builds the devices into keyboards and mice.
"PCs are the holy Grail of the business," Fowler said. "A hundred million new PCs go out every year, and we'd like to see our technology on every one of them."
Fowler believes that computer operating systems and software will ultimately exist only on the Internet, where users can gain access to them with a fingerprint image.
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