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Smart IDs alone cannot tackle fraud

By Tracy Burrows
Johannesburg, 23 May 2012

Marius Coetzee, MD of biometric identity control specialist Ideco, says smart identity cards will improve identification processes through the use of biometrics, but they cannot solve the identity fraud problem on their own.

“Banks, financial institutions and retailers will still need effective biometric-based identity control systems to augment the smart IDs,” he says.

Coetzee says local organisations lost an estimated R150 billion due to identity-based fraud last year. “They can budget for the losses, but the reality is that these losses impact their bottom lines and come out of the pockets of the customers and shareholders,” he says.

He stresses that implementing an effective biometric-based identity control system is not without its challenges. Not least of these is the complexity of capturing the data of tens of thousands of customers. He believes the smart ID to be launched in SA will help create an enabling environment for the wider use of biometric identification, but enterprises will still need systems to use this data effectively.

“We've been in this game for the past 10 years. We have seen companies publish tenders for solutions and spend a lot of money on a pilot, only to see poor results. Biometrics is an extremely complex science - if you implement it correctly, working with the right partners, you will see results. If you don't, you will simply waste money.”

Financial Identity Control executive forum

Discover how access control and time and identity management systems may be the best investment you can make in ensuring accountability, checks and balances and an audit trail in your enterprise. For more information, click here.

Ideco, in partnership with Stanley Security Solutions and ITWeb, will outline the business case for biometric identity control systems at a financial services executive forum, in Rosebank, on 31 May. Delegates will be given recommendations on the best technologies and players, shown proof-of-concept projects in the financial sector, and discover how to see return on investment from day one.

“If deployed correctly, an advanced biometric identity control system will deliver immediate benefits and a planned growth path,” he says. “Now is the time to lay the foundations for biometric-based business solutions - what you put in place now, you can build on in a way that safeguards the future.”

The Financial Identity Control executive forum is free to qualified delegates. For more information and to reserve a seat, click here.