Time To Say Good Bye To ATM Cards As You Can Now Use Your Finger Veins To Withdraw Money
The Engineer
With all the advancement that is going on and the rate at which we are moving into the future, soon the chores of everyday would transform into something cooler; something straight out of sci-fi movies. For instance, Using an ATM will become obsolete (speculation) and shall be taken over by ‘Finger Vein’ technology that relies on biometrics and comes from Hitachi (Japanese company) and Itcard S.A. (Polish banking service provider). The ‘Finger Vein’ will be installed across Poland, as told by the joint venture operatives.
The idea is to bring to users a technology that requires them to have their fingers scanned and then withdraw cash. The inventors are confident that this will replace the ATM machines that require users to enter their cards and a pin number before making use of the ATM machine. The project is termed ‘Planet Cash’. According to the plan, 1,730 ATMs will be installed in Poland this year and this is the minimum number which they have in mind. They have already made use of this technology in certain Polish banks and are now ready to bring it to the general public.
Now the important question; how does this work and how safe is it to use this technology? The Finger Vein employs the use of a CCD camera along with near-infrared light. Upon placing the finger, the near-infrared light passes through the finger and is partially absorbed by the hemoglobin present in the veins; this finger vein pattern is then captured. The pattern is unique to every person and is then cross-checked against the data bank. Once the verification is complete, the user has access to the features which are more or less similar to that of an ATM machine.
Jaros?aw Chrzanowski, CEO at ITCARD S.A says; ‘Finger Vein is a key technology in our company’s strategy. We’ve already been using this technology for ATMs in the cooperative banking sector. Once again, 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.’
According to researcher Fredrik Leifland; ‘Every individual’s vein pattern is completely unique, so there really is no way of committing fraud with this system. ‘You always need your hand scanned for a payment to go through.’
The companies are planning to have this system patented and then spread it around the globe. In a few years you all might be saying good bye to your ATM cards! Check out the youtube video below for more details:
