Minimizing losses, mitigating risks, and maintaining consumer confidence in the ATM channel are priorities for financial institutions that deploy ATMs.

The use of the Automatic Teller Machine commonly known as the ATM has now become accepted worldwide and its use has continued to grow substantially. This form of unattended banking has brought considerable savings to the banking industry and by reducing the need and presence of bank branches and tellers as well as ubiquitous convenience to the customer.

However increase fraud and identity piracy has also emerged as one of its greatest risks using PIN based security. ATM attacks of all forms are also among the most prevalent forms of fraud affecting banking institutions and their customers. Banking institutions institutions that deploy ATM channel will
therefore introduce the highest degree of security to minimize losses, and mitigate risks, so that
consumer confidence is maintained.
 
A Biometric system of customer identification on the ATM offers significant advances to the ATM infrastructure and enables a bank to provide more services and security to customers. Biometric ATM brings customer identity integrity to the ATM and only the actual presence of the customer fingerprint can access the funds and other banking services.

Biometric ATM, transactions will get simpler and more secure through touch screen technologies using various inputs and degrees of security bus using; Card and fingerprint or Card, fingerprint and PIN

SECURITY

With the addition of a fingerprint, customers are positively identified before entering their secure PIN.  Fingerprint recognition is the most popular and commonly used method of identification. The user simply places a finger on a sensory pad, which reads the ridges of the epidermis and matches it with available data of the finger with the banks database.

Thus PIN theft and card skimming is eliminated as physical proof of customer presence is required.

VALUE ADDED SERVICES

Financial institutions that offer biometrics at their ATM’s can now offer value added services to various institutions as they can show proof of life on any transaction done.

BANKING THE MASSES

ATMs with biometric devices are becoming the latest solution in the ongoing effort to offer banking services to the rural and illiterate population.

The unavailability of user friendly ATMs, particularly for rural communities and illiterate rural customers, have significantly reduced the usage of the ATM and is a great hindrance in enhancing the popularity of ATMs in rural areas. The limited usage is greatly hindered by using a keyboard for entering secure pin codes. Biometric technology can be used in breaking the hurdles of keypad usage and providing banking services to even the most illiterate customer in rural areas.

BENEFITS OF BIOMETRIC TECHNOLOGY

• The use of biometric technology in the place of PIN codes in ATMs, will appeal to rural communities and illiterate customers who find it difficult to use the keypad of ATMs. It is a simple and most natural human interaction to touch a machine which recognizes them and proceeds with their transactions.
• People are forced to remember several passwords. Biometric technology does not require the use of a PIN.
• If a customer forgets a PIN while using a standard ATMs, or enters the wrong PIN more than three times, it is probable that the account will be blocked for the day. The administration of generating a new PIN request is an unnecessary burden on ATM users and banks.
• Biometric technology provides strong an indisputable authentication. This helps to reduce the chances of fraud occurring  in ATM usage.
• Nirph biometric technology has low cost implications to banks and other costs of conventional ATMs like re-issuance of PIN and helpdesk support are reduced.
• Since many banks are increasing the withdrawal limit from ATMs, use of a combination of more than one identification (PIN, fingerprint, fingerprint & PIN) technique for high value transactions will reduce fraud and minimize the risk to the banks as well as their customers.