Trinidad and Tobago to roll out biometric system in July

Trinidad and Tobago’s minister for Social Development has proclaimed that a biometric system will be introduced to reduce crime and that citizens receiving State grant should enroll in the Republic’s Direct Deposit programme.

Reported in Trinidad Express, Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh – the Minister for Social Development – made the comments speaking to reporters after a United National Congress national executive meeting and specified that the new system will include a retinal scan.

“We want to encourage persons to come onto the Direct Deposit, so that you can get your pension monies in your account where you can access it with your bank card,” Ramadharsingh said. “As of July, we will be launching biometrics where each person will indeed have a card, whether it be a TTCard or their pension, where it will be marked with their fingerprint.

They can also work with their retinal scan, so persons cannot access their account or money. The Direct Deposit is a very safe way…that way you do not have a predictable time of the month where you will be engaged with large sums of money.”

Reported previously, seniors in the Republic will also be able to use biometrics to access social benefits.

As reported previously in BiometricUpdate.com, the National Database and Registration Authority in Pakistan will also roll out biometric smart cards to streamline pension disbursement and to allow recipients to access their money more efficiently.

Reported in a Biometric Research Note, the world’s first eID border crossing program – CARIPASS — was previously proposed in the Caribbean, and includes Trinidad and Tobago.

Article Topics

biometric cards  |  fingerprint  |  government  |  identity verification