Amsterdam-based boutique bank Banque Artesia is using South African company Biometrics.co.za`s BioWeb software to provide clients with secure access to its intranet.
After testing a number of products, Banque Artesia chose software from Biometrics.co.za and is in the process of rolling out the application.
"It`s quite a feather in SA`s cap," says Dr Harold Kimmel, CEO of Cape-based Biometrics.co.za.
Kimmel notes that Banque Artesia provides banking services to the oil industry, which is centred in Rotterdam. He says transactions in this industry include paying large sums of money for tanker-loads of oil - a process that can be high risk and time-consuming.
"When a tanker comes in, oil must be paid for, which takes time and money. Clients want to avoid queues and carrying vast amounts of money. The bank needed an easy, foolproof system to identify clients so they could effect electronic transactions," Kimmel says.
"PINs or passwords are subject to fraud, so they chose biometrics. The product supplied was BioWeb, which allows absolutely secure and easy access, using a combination of account number and fingerprint scanner. Each client has a scanner around the size of a cellphone screen, which identifies characteristic minutiae to identify the client. Each bank customer can essentially have a scanner in the office. When his tanker comes in, he gets notification that it has arrived, and uses biometrics to automatically authorise payment."
Banque Artesia in the Netherlands is a traditional trade bank and is part of Dexia, a European financial group. It provides corporate banking activities for international ventures and private banking for high net worth private clients.
Biometrics.co.za recently concluded a reseller agreement for Sagem products in the Western Cape to represent its biometrics product range.
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