OREANDA-NEWS.  February 07, 2012. Isbank S.A. is the largest commercial bank in Turkey and provides a wide range of banking services to the retail and commercial market. In 2010 Isbank decided to start an ambitious project to implement the largest network of biometric ATMs in the EMEA region. The bank's target was to increase security and convenience of ATM services. After carefully studying the available technologies, Isbank selected Hitachi's Finger Vein authentication system as the most suitable solution for deployment across their network. The bank worked closely with MIG International, a multinational technology and system integration company, to deliver and support the upgrade of their ATMs across their network in Turkey using this award winning technology. Currently Isbank has completed implementation of around 3,400 Finger Vein scanners including 2,400 units in ATMs and 1,000 units in branches in all cities across the Turkish territory. The new authentication service called Biyokimlik (Bio-identity) is available for card and non-card transactions for Isbank customers. Isbank is planning to expand this service to creat the largest biometric POS (Point-of-sale) network in the world. Currently biometric POS devices using Finger Vein technology are being tested in the field with several merchants. Isbank presented this innovation to the world during the last CeBIT Turkey event in 2011.

Sabri Gokmenler, IT Division Head at Isbank, responsible for the implementation of the Finger Vein technology, explained: " Isbank has a long history of innovation in banking in the Turkish financial sector and has always been the market leader regarding the introduction of new services and technology. The bank sees the implementation of biometrics at ATMs as a natural evolution in the use of technology to provide new levels of security and flexibility for our customers. One of the main benefits of using finger vein technology is that customers can withdraw cash from the ATM without the need to use a card."

Hakan Aran, CIO at Isbank explained: "Our customers seem to be genuinely interested in the idea of using biometrics in banking and payments transactions and Isbank will continue to innovate with new services based on biometrics. The bank recently launched an innovative 'pay-by-finger' concept using finger vein technology at the Cebit Turkey Technology Fair and we received very positive feedback from our customers."

For Hitachi, this project marked their largest success to date outside of the Japan domestic market, where Hitachi completely dominates the landscape for the use of biometrics in banking. Of the 46% of ATMs in Japan, which use biometrics (Source: Japan Financial Services Agency, 2011), the majority are using Hitachi's Finger Vein system, so that more than 75,000 finger vein scanners have been shipped for use in ATMs in the country (according to Hitachi-Omron Terminal Solutions, Corp., 2011).

Isbank followed the lead of the Polish banking sector. Poland was the first market in Europe to adopt Finger Vein technology in banking and Tadeusz Woszczynski, Head of the Security Solutions Group for Hitachi Europe in Poland said: "The large implementation of finger vein scanners on ATMs in Turkey followed on soon after the implementations by a number of Agricultural Banks in Poland. We were able to apply the lessons learned in the Polish market to the case of Isbank in Turkey. Since we had already resolved most of the technical challenges for deploying biometrics on a variety of different ATMs both indoors and outside, the timelines for the implementation were shortened and Isbank was able to offer biometric services within a few months of their decision to proceed."

Peter Jones, Deputy General Manager, responsible for Finger Vein related Solution Business in EMEA for Hitachi Europe, stated: "Turkey is a dynamic, demanding and fast-moving market and Hitachi was delighted that Isbank selected our technology for their biometric banking project. Our wide experience of biometric banking business in Japan means that we can react quickly to the demands of the varied EMEA market and we are able to scale our operations to match the business goals of ambitious players such as Isbank. We are looking forward to future cooperation with the Bank as they expand their portfolio of biometric applications."

Hitachi worked closely with MIG Int regarding the design, conception and integration of finger vein scanners into a variety of Is Bank’s ATMs from both Wincor Nixdorf and NCR. Michael Gorgi, CEO of MIG explained: "Finger vein modules are very compact in size and we were able to integrate with all of the different types of ATMs in use by the bank. We worked with Isbank during their evaluation of other vein biometric systems and Hitachi's finger vein solution was the only one that met all of the requirements in terms of size, usability and security features."