Having unveiled the original finger vein scanner in 2014, Barclays has now updated the technology to boost security even more.
The bank’s new device is developed by Hitachi and is Bluetooth compatible. The scanner uses infrared light to scan and track the unique vein patterns in customers’ fingers.
With the device, clients can safely log in and conduct their banking tasks without worrying about fraud.
The finger vein scanner is predominantly targeted at corporate and business banking clients. They will be able to use the new gizmo in early 2020.
“We’re committed to combating fraud,” said Martin Runow, head of digital banking at Barclays Corporate banking. “The new and improved Barclays Biometric Reader is much more portable and even more secure.
“Our clients are increasingly mobile and the advances we’ve been able to introduce will allow them to securely manage their accounts wherever they are. This device aligns with our aim to redefine digital banking by putting client experience at the core of everything we do, making it easier for our corporate clients to run their business.”
Using biometrics is one of the crucial ways in which people can prove their identities under the new strong customer authentication rules that is being enforced around the EU as part of the Revised Payment Service Directive (PSD2).
The rules mean that customers doing online transactions must prove that their identities with two out of three ways: what they know, what they have and something they are.
Simply put, the first is proving that they know things like PINs and passwords, the second could be that that they have a particular device or credit card, and the third issue usually pertains to different forms of biometrics.
One of those is to scan veins. Other accepted biometrics accepted by the European Banking Authority include fingerprints, retina and iris scans, hand geometry, voice samples and heart rates.
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