Biometric and blockchain technologies are being used in tandem to provide ID verification at Saudi Arabian cash machines, according to computerweekly.com
US blockchain identity platform firm ShoCard is working with Alhamrani Universal, Saudi Arabia’s largest automated teller machine (ATM) provider, to develop the country’s first biometric bank access technologies.
The ShoCard prototype is aimed at solving card fraud issues that continue to blight banks and consumers globally. A study by Gemini Advisory showed that in the US alone, 60 million credit cards were compromised last year and sold on the dark web.
The Saudi Arabian trial will enable local consumers to use their faces and blockchain-based apps to withdraw money from cashpoint machines instead of PIN numbers.
The ID authentication prototype, currently under test, can communicate across banks and uses blockchain to confirm an individual’s identity without accessing the bank’s database.
“ShoCard will solve the issue of card fraud at ATMs,” said Armin Ebrahimi, founder and CEO of ShoCard. “It fits nicely into existing ATM technology, which usually already has a camera installed, and makes the customer experience as seamless as possible.”
The system uses blockchain technology to protect people’s identity while confirming the information that banks need to verify that a withdrawal is legitimate.
ShoCard protects against ATM scams by introducing biometrics as part of a five-factor authentication process that also includes the ShoCard ID, a QR code, timestamps, session IDs and other user verification methods, such as selfie IDs.
As banks begin to adopt biometric technology for authentication and verification at ATMs across the region, Alhamrani Universal’s ATMs will be able to verify all customers, irrespective of their banking partner, because of the use of blockchain and biometrics together.
Ebrahimi added: “ShoCard uses blockchain technology to identify users across different banks, hardware or online services where no device or service is trusted.
“It allows users and enterprises to establish their identities with one another in a secure and verified way, so that any transaction can be accomplished quickly, seamlessly and with peace of mind.”
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
