Credit union goes with dual biometrics, UN agency taps Accenture
21 May, 2015
category: Biometrics, Digital ID, Financial, Government
Credit union deploys eyeprint, fingerprint for mobile access
Mountain America Credit Union announced the beta release of a biometric Mobile banking login feature. Members can log in to the Mountain America Mobile app with the swipe of a finger or by using the camera to image the unique patterns in the eye.
The credit union is combining fingerprint and eye-imaging technology to make biometrics available to all members. It’s an optional way to make the log in process faster and more convenient.
Biometric login is available to Mountain America members on Apple devices and newer Android devices. The beta release enables product refinement and supports the creation of an optimal member experience moving forward.
Mountain America developed this technology with Access Softek for the mobile banking platform side, and EyeVerify for the Eyeprint ID technology.
For fingerprint authentication, the image sensor on the device scans the fingerprint, analyzes the ridges and converts it into a mathematical code. That code is stored in the device and used to compare against future scans. Users can add up to five fingers, and the device can read fingerprints from any angle.
EyeVerify works by using an individual’s unique eyeprint. The eyeprint is the map of blood vessels in the whites of the eyes, which is unique to each person. Each person has two eyeprints in each eye. The initial enrollment process takes less than a minute, and will capture the eyeprint on a smartphone or tablet camera. After that, logging in using eyeprint ID is as easy as taking a selfie.
Mountain America Credit Union has more than $4.5 billion in assets and serves more than 525,000 members, wherever they are, through online and mobile banking, 84 branches in five states and access to more than 30,000 ATMs and 5,000 shared-branching locations nationwide.
Accenture tapped for refugee identification
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is working with Accenture to deliver a biometric technology system for registering and verifying the identities of displaced persons around the world, enabling UNHCR to provide refugees with the assistance they require where and when needed.
Under the terms of the three-year contract, which was secured after a competitive tendering process, UNHCR will deploy Accenture’s Biometric Identity Management System (BIMS) across UNHCR global operations. The system captures and stores fingerprints, iris data and facial images of individuals, providing those who are often undocumented with their only personal identity record.
UNHCR’s deployment of BIMS has already commenced with refugee camp locations in Thailand and Chad. The expansion of BIMS into Chad will enable the enrollment and formal identification of 450,000 people resident in more than 19 refugee camps. To date in 2015, more than 100,000 residents in Chad, and more than 120,000 people within nine camps in Thailand, have had their identities verified, with the system handling approximately 2,500 enrollments per day.
BIMS leverages the Unique Identity Service Platform (UISP), a software offering developed by Accenture, which works in conjunction with UNHCR’s existing case management system. BIMS links verification stations in UNHCR offices and camps around the world back to a central biometric database in Geneva. Accenture will also provide UNHCR with on-going system maintenance and user training for BIMS.
An early version of BIMS was piloted successfully at the Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi in late 2013, despite logistical and technical challenges in maintaining power, equipment and online connectivity in remote areas. During the pilot program, which lasted four weeks, more than 17,000 people enrolled their biometric data and had their identities verified. The results of the pilot demonstrated the feasibility of biometric management in field conditions that were highly challenging for biometric capture.
Accenture is working with other vendors on the projects, including WCC Smart Search & Match, Green Bit, GenKey, Warwick Warp, IriTech, SmartSensors and Cognitec.