BALTIMORE — A new biometric automated teller machine will soon allow members of Securityplus Federal Credit Union to conduct transactions via a kiosk equipped with facial recognition biometric software.
"I think this is the future of a member authenticating their person with devises," said Securityplus FCU Senior Systems Engineer Mike Adams. "The camera can look at the member and say, 'Yes that is the right person.' "
Securityplus FCU is no stranger to biometric authentication. The CU has been using fingerprint biometric technology with its 100 employees for over a decade.
"We use this for all of our staff for logging into their PCs. They have the option to use the fingerprint, which is nice because they don't have to remember their network passwords," said Adams.
When biometric authentication technology first hit the market, it was an expensive tech proposition.
But during the last decade, prices have fallen and with more personal devices like smartphones and laptops supporting this technology, members may come to expect this layer of security at branches, say industry insiders.
"Biometrics is already popular is to certain extent and it is only getting better and less expensive," said Chris Sachse, co-founder at the CU consulting firm Horsetail Technologies. "A second factor of authentication is great and CU's should look to integrate that where they can, right now."
Adams recently met with Real Time Kiosks, a vendor that deals in biometric authentication. He questioned if they had worked with facial recognition software in a branch setting. They hadn't. The vendor was pitching Adam's on fingerprint technology at branch ATMs, but the process was deemed too cumbersome and time consuming for the CU's approximate 30,000 members.
Unafraid to Try
"I asked them if they ever done facial recognition and they said no. But they were not afraid to give it a try," said Adams.
The kiosk with biometric facial-recognition technology is scheduled to be introduced to members later this month. In the meantime, 15 CU employees selected as a beta testing group have been putting the kiosk was put through its paces during the last few months.
"I was part of the testing team, and the technology is quite astounding," said Securityplus AVP of Marketing Mark Ely. "We are proud to say that we may be one of the very first CU's that will incorporate biometrics into a teller kiosk that can do just about any transaction that a live teller can do."
Adams said the touch screen kiosk will be rolled out at one of the credit union's seven branches. After members enter their identification numbers, the kiosk will take a picture of their face and keep that image on file.
When members later approach the kiosk to conduct a transition, if the facial recognition is deemed a match the transaction is granted--a process that takes seconds. Members can also use the kiosk by entering their eight-digit pin number.
If there are multiple transactions the software continually scans the member's face. If a new face appears, the transaction stops.
"For every transaction, the biometrics feature is used to ensure the same member is in front of the machine," said Adams. He added that every transaction is also recorded with video.
Since people do change over time, members may have to have new pictures taken to replace outdated images. "The software doesn't care if you are wearing a hat or if your hairstyle changes, it is looking at you face. In a case of man, a full 'Duck Dynasty' beard opposed to a nice clean shave — the kiosk will likely not recognize that member," said Adams.
Smiling Members
Due to product streamlining and beta employee testing, Adams said he is confident that most members will be able to walk up to the kiosk for the first time, quickly register their image and conduct a transition without assistance.
"This is a prototype for one branch and we are going to see how successful it is," said Adams. "If the members like it and it frees up our tellers to cross-sell products, I would think we would roll another one of these out within a year."
While Adams is excited about member feedback, he said the kiosk is not meant to replace tellers but more so enhance the overall member experience.
"When ATMs came out, everyone thought they would replace tellers. They did not," Adams noted. "This kiosk is not designed to replace a person, it is designed to allow members to access their money 24-hours a day."
