OREANDA-NEWS. September 19, 2012. Hitachi Europe Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501), today announced that it has finalised delivery of Finger Vein biometrics authentication for Bank BPH S.A. (Headquarter: Krakow), one of the largest banks in Poland and a member of the GE Capital group. By using Hitachi's Finger Vein biometric devices, Bank BPH can provide its customers with more secure money transaction services without PIN numbers to verify individuals. Bank BPH has already been running a pilot in several branches since June 2012. BPH will implement the system into 22 branch offices by the end of September 2012. Subsequently, all 287 branch offices in Poland will start using it as a main method of authentication at teller counters by the end of 2012. Above all, approximately 1,800 Finger Vein devices in total will be installed in the Bank BPH branch network.

After carefully studying the advantages of each of the available technologies on the market, Bank BPH selected Finger Vein biometric authentication systems, proposed by a consortium of Hitachi Europe Ltd. and Wincor Nixdorf Sp. z o.o., as the most suitable solution for deployment across their network. A special Finger Vein authentication device with an Ethernet interface adopted by Bank BPH has been developed based on the biometric module from Hitachi-Omron Terminal Solutions, Corp., a joint venture of Hitachi, Ltd. and OMRON Corporation and a leading company of ATMs with Finger Vein biometric authentication in Japan.

Finger Vein authentication technology is developed by Hitachi, and uses infrared light to capture the unique pattern of veins in a person's finger. This pattern is stored as a template and used to verify the person's identity on the next occasion they use the device. Impossible to counterfeit, contactless, discreet and non-invasive, it combines the convenience of fingerprint with the accuracy of iris scanning. Since Hitachi started its Finger Vein authentication business in 2002, the solutions have been implemented in a number of applications such as banking transactions, access control, and time and attendance systems, etc.

Recently, Hitachi's Finger Vein authentication solutions were adopted by Is Bankasi A.S., the largest Turkish commercial bank, mainly as its ATM security, as well as being collaborated with the BT Group, a leading communications services provider to use Hitachi's Finger Vein authentication technology for identification management of financial institutions. In Poland, Hitachi's Finger Vein authentication solutions were introduced into the Polish co-operative banks sector in 2010 for the security of ATM transactions and benefits in payment schemes.

The Hitachi Group aims to expand its Finger Vein authentication business globally, including in the regions of Europe, North America, China, Southeast Asia and Oceania.