Ziraat Bank (T.C. Ziraat Bankas? A.?.), Turkish's largest state bank, is to build the largest biometric ATM network in Europe by January 2012.
The bank had bought 1505 GRG recycling ATM, all of which are equipped with palm vein readers, the latest biometric security technology used in ATM. In addition, 1,400 GRG desktop palm readers that can connect PCs via USB were ordered and the delivery is completed.
By January 2012, “1.400 desktop palm readers will be disseminated over branches for the purpose of reading the customer’s palm vein data”, said Mr. Ali Araz in October, ATMIA ATM Security 2011, London. Araz is the General Manager of Fintek, which is the IT company of Ziraat Bank, and CIO of Ziraat Bank.
Ziraat Bank will therefore take the benefits on fraud prevention, and enable its customer feel more secure and comfortable. Specifically the customer might feel satisfied on that they can have faster authentication than ATM card plus pin code and even don’t need to take card and memorize pin code.
Palm vein verification technology uses the vascular patterns of an individual’s palm as personal identification data. After inserting the card and entering a PIN, the user holds his or her hand over a sensor on the ATM for verification purposes. Because palm vein patterns are unique to each individual, others are not able to withdraw money using stolen cards. The palm vein information can be stored on either PC, or Server or a token, or even smart card, which can also keeps the biometric information hidden from bank employees.
Compare to other biometric technologies, Palm Vein technology is much stable, non-invasive, hygienic, unaffected by age and unique for every individual, even for monozygotic twins, thus promoting a high-level of user acceptance.
Independent research has shown that in ideal conditions, palm vein technology can be 4 times more accurate than fingerprint scanning. Compared with a finger, a palm has a broader and more complicated vascular pattern and thus contains a wealth of differentiating features for personal identification.