HID Global, the identity card and printer product company, reports that it has integrated the company’s Lumidigm biometrics with its OMNIKEY contactless smart card readers. The products are for identity validation for citizen ID and financial, healthcare and other commercial applications. With the Lumidigm V-Series V371 fingerprint reader, pictured, users can verify identities by having people present a card, fingerprint or both to the reader. The makers add that the products are designed to streamline enrolment and transactions while preventing the use of fake fingerprints.
Paul Butler, vice president and general manager of the biometrics business at HID Global, said: “As the first HID Global offering to integrate Lumidigm technology, the V371 reader brings the best available fingerprint biometric performance to contactless reader applications where knowing your customer is of utmost importance. The V371 streamlines cardholder access and eliminates fraud from shared or stolen ID cards. Other anti-counterfeit methods have been used to combat card fraud, but only the V371 ensures authenticated users are the same people that were issued the cards.”
Originally designed for a national citizen ID programme, the V371 is described by the US firm as a tool for any identity verification application where individuals enrol their fingerprint information onto a contactless card. Validation is accomplished by matching the individual’s fingerprint with his or her biometric data that was written to the card during enrolment. Typically, card-and-fingerprint readers require two hands during use — one to hold the card and the other to present a fingerprint for image capture. The Lumidigm V371 reader eliminates this it’s claimed with a cradle that holds the card and also provides LED feedback during use to ensure proper card placement. Lumidigm multispectral imaging ensures clear, clean fingerprint images even when skin features are absent or hard to distinguish due to age, dirt, finger pressure and/or skin or conditions the firm says. This the makers add also protects against fake fingerprints by using patented liveness detection that, similar to anti-virus software, can be updated in the field as new threats are identified. The V371 reader is available now.
