Eye-Scanning ATMs Ready To Face Public

Welcome Guest. | Log In| Register | Membership Benefits

December 02, 1997 (8:22 AM EST)

By Andrew Craig,

LONDON -- Biometric technology that gleans identifying information by scanning the iris of a person's eye is being tested at the automated teller machines and teller counters of a major financial services provider.

Biometrics digitally measures unique human characteristics -- such as voice, iris, or fingerprint patterns -- to verify a person's identity. Biometric techniques have been touted as an alternative or supplement to current identification methods, such as personal identification numbers.

The iris scan uses a video camera to read the unique patterns of a person's iris and compare these with a version that has already been stored to verify an authorized person's identity. The pattern of every human iris is unique to its owner, and remains constant throughout life.

Nationwide, the United Kingdom's largest mortgage lender, will begin a six-month test of the technology early in 1998. Other financial institutions in the United States and Asia, including a number of banks, are expected to join the test in the first quarter of the year, according to the technology's developer Sensar.

Video cameras installed in cash machines and counters will be used to capture the eye patterns of participating Nationwide customers on their first visit. On subsequent visits, the customers' eyes will be read automatically and their identity extrapolated from a database of patterns.

In the past, biometric technology has been used to control access to buildings, but it is now being tested in applications ranging from electronic commerce, banking transactions, and data security. According to research released in October by Frost & Sullivan, a Mountain View, Calif.-based consultancy that monitors the automatic identification industry, the biometrics equipment and software markets are expected to grow worldwide from $103 million in revenues in 1996 to $170 million in 2003.

The test will involve IrisIdent technology developed by Sensar to identify individuals according to the unique pattern of their eyes. Sensar and NCR announced an agreement in June to develop the technology for the retail banking market. Both companies will be demonstrating the technology at the Retail Delivery 97 show in New Orleans this week.

Iris scan technology "appears to have a very good acceptance rate, whereas less obtrusive methods such as fingerprint reading do not have such a good rejection and acceptance rate," said Paul Rogers, marketing manager of self service solutions at NCR in the United Kingdom.

However, privacy concerns and the unsettling nature of the technology have been voiced regarding biometric identity techniques. Test participant Nationwide said it will look carefully at the public's reaction to the technology before deciding whether to roll it out permanently.

"Of course, we're aware about people's privacy concerns -- that's why we're doing the trial," said a spokesman for Nationwide. "It's a very unknown area, and we want to see what the reaction is like and whether or not it is commercially viable," he said.