Payment

Education and Biometrics The benefits of using biometrics technology to enhance and streamline life in education institutions are unlimited. Students can be given access to libraries, halls, laboratories, and secure sports areas at a granular level without the need for lanyards or access cards. Which inevitably get lost, stolen, or can be passed from one student to another. Entry using biometric information is safe, quick, secure, and Covid hygienic, as systems can be frictionless. Most importantly, personalised to the bits of a person different from another and their specific access needs. This type of authentication is also incredibly useful for paying for things, and we see more universities and colleges enabling biometrics authenticated transactions across their campuses. The Introduction of Biometric Payment Biometrics was first introduced to the world of payments in 2014 by Apple via Apple Pay. The technology giants’ customers could make payments simply by using fingerprints (and later facial recognition) on their smartphones. This technology is now widely accepted by most businesses while consumer adoption is growing. According to a published report by the Mercator Advisory Group, by 2024, 66% of smartphone owners will use biometrics for authentication, with consumers particularly valuing speed, security, and not having to remember passwords as the main reasons for adopting biometric authentication. This forecast is particularly striking when compared against a figure from only two years in 2019, which saw only 27% of consumers using biometrics to authenticate transactions. Last year, shopping heavyweight Amazon further stepped into the arena to introduce its palm scanning payment technology. The ‘Amazon One’ scanner is on trial in two of its Seattle stores and registers an image of the user\’s palm, letting them enter the store and pay by hovering their hand above it. A statement from the e-commerce giant explained that “palm recognition is considered more private than some biometric alternatives because you can’t determine a person’s identity by looking at an image of their palm.” The Use of Biometrics in Universities and Colleges This type of authentication software is also being introduced by some universities, colleges, and some schools as an important signal that they are ready to re-open campuses safely after the Covid 19 pandemic. Many students, parents, and employees need the reassurance of touchless technology to feel ready to embrace on-site learning again. Penair School in Truro, Cornwall is one of many secondary schools that has recently announced that it is moving towards a cashless canteen as part of plans to be more Covid-19 resilient. The business manager and Chief Finance Officer at the school, Ms. Hakin said: “We plan to introduce cashless catering to reduce the handling of cash and to speed up the flow of students through the dining hall as part of Covid 19 planning’. However, not all biometrics systems are seen as part of the solution, with fingerprint touch technology for many now posing too much of Covid contamination risk. In fact, the School Food Plan Alliance recently produced a school catering checklist (recommended by the Dfe) which suggests that fingerprint biometrics should only be used as a last resort. This is why Arana Security’s new Biometric technology BioWave offers ground-breaking new technology that is both security and health security. The new application provides a frictionless user experience with a completely touchless enrolment process. Arana Security\’s 3-in-1 solution The application offers a 3in 1 solution, with biometric access control, time attendance, and biometric payment managed from one portal. The system also allows you to have multiple locations on the same biometric payment/ access control system using Idemia’s ‘MorphoWave Compact’ or ‘VisionPass’ devices, which is perfect for multi-campus University sites, where students need to pay for a library book fine, their lunch, and items in the campus shops, for example.  BioWave offers full multiple sites and critical, non-touch biometric authentication. As the world of education slowly returns to on-site teaching and learning, students and staff will return expecting campuses to be COVID 19 safe. Offering convenient and seamless cashless and touchless biometric technology sends a strong message that education bosses take their customer health and security concerns seriously.  And in the competitive world of education, this cannot be underestimated. Biometric touchless technology, like Arana’s Security’s Bio Wave, offers the solution the education sector may be looking for.

Biometric payment through a simple, contactless fingerprint scanning by the device Solution being tested by an international retail organization The current pandemic has increased the demand for biometric payment solutions for the banking and retail sector. However, fingerprint biometric solutions pose their own issues with hygiene. Arana Security developed an application to work alongside IDEMIA’s MorphoWave Compact to allow for contactless biometric payments. This solution offers an improved customer journey with an innovative, convenient and secure way to pay with just the wave of your hand. As an expert in biometric integrated solutions Arana Security strives to provide customers with high quality solutions. The recent growth in demand for contactless payment solutions forecasts tremendous potential for the solution around the world. In fact, new research by Fingerprints showed 56% of consumers would prefer biometric payment over PIN. With the introduction of mobile biometrics which accounts for 65% of mobile users, interest in the use of biometrics as a replacement for passwords has peaked. Consumers have been introduced to a ‘tap happy’ culture which they are now buying into. The benefits for companies using biometric payments would also include cost savings on physical cards, ID documents and administration costs. Arana Security chose to develop an application for IDEMIA’s MorphoWave™ Compact contactless fingerprint device as it enables fast, smooth and accurate verification of clients. MorphoWave™ Compact performs a 3D scan and verification of four fingerprints in less than one second, in a quick, easy and hygienic touchless hand wave gesture. Thanks to advanced algorithms based on Artificial Intelligence, the accuracy is very high, even with ageing fingers. This will allow customers to make a payment with the simple wave gesture. The solution simply works by linking a payment card or account to a registered user on the mobile application. The user will then need to be enrolled using the MorphoWave which then enables the customer identification to authorize this card-on-file payment. The enrolment process happens on the device itself within 30 seconds. By running this system on cloud services, Arana Security are able to offer multi-location enrolment and authentication, which makes this solution even more user friendly. The verification monitoring system can be used to overlook the verification of the users on the MorphoWave Compact from one simple portal. Ali Nasser, Sales Director of Arana security, has stated that the aim is to help financial institutions and retail organisations to have a safe environment amid the pandemic, and a sustainable payment solution for the foreseeable future. “We’ve worked closely with a reseller who is testing this new system with a Japanese retail organisation who require the system for their Shopping mall food courts based in several locations. We believe this system is crucial in helping retailers and financial institutions provide a safe and secure payment solution to their customers, all the while decreasing the chance of Fraud. It’ll definitely be a step in the right direction for many organisations.”

Biometrics in the finance sector is already in use and recently managing to gain more trust from consumers as they get more used to using them as a method of authentication. Biometric solutions have existed in different applications and existing trend that was slowly being explored and adopted but the pandemic effect has caused an acceleration of implementation and even a higher level of acceptance by consumers. Biometric payment solutions is a more recent application of biometric technology and research has shown that 93% of consumers prefer biometrics over passwords when authorising payment. The biometrics industry was estimated to surpass $45 billion by 2024 but after COVID-19 and the accelerated demand for contactless technology its though to reach $70 billion by 2030. Using biometric technology as point of sale (POS) method to identify a consumer and authorise payment from their bank account will have benefits not only on individual customer experience but there are benefits for retailers. Making the payment process easier and smoother will reduce the number of abandoned carts due to forgotten passwords, and generally improving the customer experience. There are two main types of biometric payment technologies that are currently available as payment applications fingerprint scanning and palm scanner. While face recognition was considered as a viable solution with the current pandemic and mask-wearing it’s no longer a front runner as a solution as the accuracy and reliability are compromised with the usage of masks. Increasing security as well as providing convenience for both retailers and consumers a driving factor towards the adoption of biometric payment solutions. Fingerprint payment cards Biometric Payment cards will include within them a fingerprint sensor that will detect the fingerprint and match it to the one stored on the card’s chip. If it matches the payment will be authorised. The fingerprint is stored completely with the card and at no point does it leave the card so cannot be stolen or intercepted, making such a card much more secure than using a pin or signature to authorise payments. In addition to the security benefit there are further advantages of using such a technology; Payment cards can be set up easily even from home using a simple biometric scanning device Pins are not required Doesn’t require a battery Such cards will be compatible for use with existing contactless terminals as the authentication is happening within the card itself Currently, there are trials of such cards happening in Europe, so we may be seeing them appearing soon. 3D Fingerprint Scanners Recent technology such as the MorphoWave Compact by Idemia work by using 3D fingerprint imaging to increase accuracy. Idemia’s patented, touchless 3D fingerprint technology works by scanning four fingers in 3D for maximum accuracy, with one pass of the hand over the sensor. This allows for a fast transaction without compromise to security. Although, traditionally this technology is used for access control and time-attendance, Arana Security have developed a payment application compatible with the MorphoWave Compact to offer a touchless biometric payment solution. Palm scanner payment There are 2 slightly different technologies that come under palm scanners, both of which are not new technologies in themselves but the application as payment solutions is more recent. The first being scanner that detects the patterns and ridges on the surface of the palm which like a fingerprint is unique. It’s not the preferred method as the probability of getting a bad image and the inaccuracy of partial prints is not favoured. The more popular choice and seen to be more secure is the use of scanners that will detect the blood vessels just below the surface of the skin, also known as vein recognition biometrics. This network of vessels is unique to each person just like fingerprints. The main advantages of vein recognition are that it does not change with age as a face does, and not accessible to be copied by criminals. We can be certain that the future will involve more use of biometrics in different aspects of our lives. As the technology develops in its accuracy and as people increasingly look for convenience, the presence of biometric payment solutions will be welcomed by all.