Barclays and Hitachi’s Biometric Scanners

Patrick Donohue 

            In order to counter the more frequent cyber attacks, Barclays is installing a new mechanism into some of its client’s terminals.  This new terminal will scan the veins inside their client’s finger.  The technology was adopted from Hitachi, originally created for the Japanese banking such as in ATMs and other automated devices.  As of now the device is used for only Barclays’ top clients, as the device and accompanying software is incredibly expensive to lease. The article claims that a biometric is less likely to be copied, as the client must be alive in order to use it unlike a two-dimensional fingerprint that could easily be copied and transferred onto a scanning pad.   The article provides an example where a criminal could not cut off a Barclays client’s finger to use it in their system, as the blood must be flowing in order for the device to approve the scan. 

            If Barclays and other top financial services banks can bring this new technology to the masses, the proverbial game has been changed for the better.  With new devices such as these biometric scanners, banks can operate more freely with less worry of cyber attacks.  Banks should begin to provide biometric scanners to their clients who frequent their software in order to make large volume trades.  Not only will Barclays have a competitive advantage over other banks they will also continue to gain more clients until this technology can be mirrored by other investment firms. 

This new technology could be the way of the future, in many aspects not just for investors and commercial banking.  Once Hitachi or another large tech company has found a way to mass market this device you may begin to see these on every corner.  According to the article, Japan and Poland have already begun to implement a similar system in their ATMs.  In addition to seeing these new devices at your local bank branch you may find them inside your home, if tech companies can make these devices inexpensive or provide them without several accompanying software applications they can certainly widen their marketing base.   Much like a Bloomberg terminal, I could see this device being provided to the public in the same manner; If you are willing to pay for the enhanced security and make large volume trades often then this device may just your best bet in keeping your financials secure. 

            Overall this software and accompanying hardware has a lot of potential for the future, as much if not all trading will eventually become electronic.   Although the article was geared toward a United Kingdom investor base, the United States has a much larger contingent of individual investors and this software can thrive more so in the United States than in any other market.  Unfortunately at this point the device is too expensive for individual utilization but time will tell if this tech has a place in the future of investing. 

The accompanying video briefly explains how this software works by the author of the article, Simon Gompertz.  

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29062901