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Cash at their fingertips: Poland gets biometric ATM shared network

May 16, 2014

Poland can boast the first biometric ATM shared network in Europe — Planet Cash. ITCard S.A., a provider of banking services in Poland, currently has 500 Planet Cash ATMs and plans to add 1,500 more by year-end.

A news release said that the company's 2,000 biometric-enabled machines from Diebold Inc. and Wincor Nixdorf will represent an 11 percent share of the Polish ATM market for ITCard, currently the country’s second largest independent network.

Polish consumers will find Planet Cash ATMs in chain retail locations that include Biedronka, Carrefour and Intermarché, as well as in central areas of major Polish cities. The operator already has ATMs in branches of a number of banks. Using just a finger for access, customers will be able to withdraw cash and perform other operations.

"Finger Vein is a key technology in our company’s strategy,” ITCard S.A. CEO Jarosław Chrzanowski, said. “We’ve already been using this technology for ATMs in the cooperative banking sector … ITCard is making a revolution in the market by launching the first biometric shared network in Europe which can be used by all banking customers."

ITCard ATMs use finger vein biometric technology developed by Hitachi in Japan and used for the provision of secure ATM services in that nation’s banking sector.

"ITCard is a strategic partner who has cooperated with us since 2010. The Planet Cash project is the biggest step so far for ATMs in Europe that utilizes Finger Vein technology to create a new standard for secure, quick and convenient banking transactions for society," said Tadeusz Woszczyński, Hitachi Europ Ltd. regional manager for the central eastern Europe information systems group.