Shinkin Central Bank of Tokyo is using Hitachi America Ltd.'s biometric finger vein authentication hardware in its New York branch, the vendor announced Monday.
The branch, which opened last month, uses the technology to control access to the trading room, operation room, and server room. The hardware is used in combination with an identification number that must be typed into a keypad before the user's finger is scanned.
Hitachi America, a unit of Hitachi Ltd. of Tokyo, said this is the first time the biometric product has been used in the United States; it has been used previously with automated teller machine, computer, and building access in Japan.
Unlike fingerprint readers, Hitachi's scanners shine a light at the vein pattern within the user's finger; this method does not require physical contact with the reader. Hitachi says the method is more resistant to counterfeiting, since a user's vein pattern is hard to conceal.
