Identity, Security, Payments, Biometrics, Smart Cards and Authentication News

Quick boarding with the touch of a finger

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

By combining fingerprint recognition from Precise Biometrics on SIM cards and automated boarding gates from IER, the companies aim to solve the challenge of offering passengers efficient travel while demands on aviation security is increasing. The new IER SpeedBoarding® Gates with fingerprint technology from Precise Biometrics are currently being launched at the Passenger Terminal Expo in Amsterdam.


One lane in the SpeedBoarding® Gate offers fingerprint recognition in combination with a frequent flyer’s card or a registered traveler’s card, using a mobile phone with NFC functionality. The biometric solution is based on Precise Match-on-Card™, enabling fingerprints to be both stored and matched inside a SIM card in a mobile phone. When the passenger uses the mobile phone at the gate, the fingerprint information is sent down to the SIM card and matched against the reference fingerprint inside the card. The second lane will offer fingerprint recognition in combination with a temporary database solution where the passengers register their fingerprints at check-in, which is then verified at boarding. The fingerprint information is stored in a database and is erased when the flight is completed. [end] 

UK-regional bus group Bluestar has launched a new transit card for discounted weekly and monthly travel on its network, according to Southern Daily Echo.

The new card enables cashless fare for any service on the Bluestar Network in Southampton, Eastleigh and Winchester. It also supports travel on Wilts & Dorset buses and Southern Vectis on the Isle of Wight, both of which are owned and operated by Go-Ahead Group.

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SITA, an IT provider for the air travel industry, has unveiled its first proof-of-concept for a solution that enables travelers to check in at the airport, gain access to members’ lounges and board their flight all with a simple tap of an NFC-enabled phone.

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Orange has announced that the long-awaited Samsung Wave 578 handset is coming soon to UK stores preloaded with Orange’s Quick Tap NFC SIM for mobile payments, according to Somobile.

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Hitachi partnered with Turkey-based banking company Isbank to bring biometric identification authentication to roughly 3,400 ATMs in Europe.

While the new network of biometric ATMs, which utilize Hitachi’s finger vein scanning technology, is the largest in Europe, it is far from the largest worldwide where Japan has embraced the technology and installed more than 75,000 finger vein-based ATMs.

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High schools in Jefferson County, W.V. will be implementing biometric finger scanning in an effort to provide security for the students’ cafeteria accounts. Purpose of the program, according to school officials, is to eliminate clerical errors and to provide students with an easy way to identify themselves when using the cafeteria.

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Salt Lake City-based Cirque demonstrated a prototype of its NFC-enabled GlidePoint computer track pad at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, according to Engadget.

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