Citibank leads with biometric credit card

Citibank - the world's largest credit card issuer - is introducing biometric credit cards in Singapore. With the biometric payment system, card users do not even need to carry their cards with them.

The biometric system is expected to change the way people shop and make payments. Shoppers no longer need to present their credit card and sign for payment. Instead, it will just be a matter of having a finger scan followed by the keying in of a PIN number.

The bank is first introducing the card to about 190 000 cardholders between the age of 25 and 34.

When high-profile entertainers, business executives and politicians exercise, they want the latest equipment and the best trainers. Most of all, they want an escape from the masses. For a mere $23 500 a year, they can go to the VIP section of the Equinox Fitness Club in Manhattan, which uses the latest technology to ensure their privacy.

"We can't have people just pushing on the door to see the celebrities," said Suzanne Meth, client services manager, as she explained why the club uses a device that unlocks the door only to members whose irises are recognised.

Once found only in science-fiction movies like "Minority Report," "GoldenEye" and "Total Recall," biometric technologies are becoming a part of everyday life as an innovative way to control access to buildings and information. Researchers are developing devices that will recognise a person's smell, walk and even DNA.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair insists that a national identity card scheme should go ahead as a question of "modernity", not civil liberties. Blair confirmed at his monthly press conference that ID cards would be compulsory from 2008 for non-EU nationals who have lived in Britain for more than three months and are looking for work.

He made it clear that the foreign nationals would be issued with "biometric residence permits" when they applied for a national insurance number in Britain. Without being registered on the ID card database they would not be able to work, claim benefits or get free hospital treatment. The cards will not be introduced until 2009 for British citizens and will remain voluntary until parliament votes after the next general election on whether to make the scheme compulsory.

Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said the choice between civil liberties and "modernity" presented by Blair was a false one. "At this stage in his career, he might reflect more and patronise less. Does the public that he claims to speak for really want a future devoid of all the rights and freedoms which previous generations of Britons fought to defend?" she said.

The USA's General Services Administration (GSA) has approved several biometrics software products from Aware, for use in personal identity verification (PIV) solutions for federal employees and contractors.

Aware managed to gain approval for products in five categories: fingerprint capture station, facial image capture middleware, facial image capture station (physical), template generator, and template matcher.

The approval is important because the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has directed federal agencies to purchase only products and services from the GSA Approved Products List for the implementation of their PIV solutions.

Siemens Biometrics Centre and Cognitec Systems, a provider of face recognition technology and systems, have announced details of a partnership in the areas of border control and ePassport solutions.

The partnership covers the integration of Cognitec's face recognition software into Siemens' multi-biometric solutions designed for the issuance of biometric passports as well as solutions for biometric support of border control.

Siemens has already successfully delivered a complete system for capturing and verifying biometric data of Swiss citizens to the government of Switzerland. This system is based on the Siemens Homeland Security Suite which offers software for reading and checking of biometric travel documents, and for capturing and verifying of facial images and fingerprints.