*From the Secugen website
Santa Clara, California (June 29, 2010) – SecuGen, the world’s leadingoptical fingerprint device vendor, is pleased to announce that CompuLynx, ofNairobi Kenya, has successfully integrated the SecuGen Hamster™ IV into theAccount Holder Biometric Authentication & Identification System for one ofthe largest retail banks in Kenya.
With over four million accounts and a network of over 115 branches, the bankturned to CompuLynx to develop a biometric-based authentication system to helpsolve the bank’s difficult challenge of reliably authenticating its millions ofaccount holders in a country without national ID cards. This solution offersthe bank several clear benefits. Among these benefits, account holders areidentified accurately, securely, and rapidly with a concomitant increase incustomer satisfaction, as well as a drastic reduction in financial fraudassociated with identify theft.
The authentication system includes a Central Biometric Database at thebank's data center that stores a single biometric profile per customer,regardless of the number of accounts held by a customer. Each branch isconnected to the database, which performs ultra-high speed biometric identificationfor up to 50,000 fingerprints to check for duplication. For each transactionthat involves withdrawing cash, customers’ identities are verified by matchingtheir fingerprints one-to-one with their stored profiles. By avoiding duplicateprofiles and securing authentication, fingerprint biometrics has helped toreduce fraud and identity theft, while streamlining the entire process for thebank’s retail customers. The system is expected to grow to a database of morethan 4 million customers for all of the bank’s branches.