Credit union offers biometric fingerprint scanning solution to members

Service 1st Federal Credit Union is now offering members biometric fingerprint scanning authentication, developed by RG2 Solutions, according to a report by Credit Union Journal.

Service 1st FCU will offer the fingerprint scanning authentication to 23,500 members at eight branch locations.

This is the second time Service 1st FCU has tried using biometric fingerprint scanning. In 2008, it partnered with U.S. Biometrics Corp., but two years later the company folded and Service 1st FCU was stranded “without any support and no way to add new devices to [its] system,” said the credit union’s Chief Information Officer Jay Reed.

“Biometrics was the next obvious step in privacy and security — especially in a busy, open lobby,” said Reed. “With the advent of lower-priced fingerprint scanners, it made the dream of biometric authentication come to life.”

In 2010, Service 1st FCU began researching different biometric vendors for a suitable solution before finding RG2 Solutions’ BioTran software.

The biometric member verification system uses fingerprint scanner technology to verify a member’s identity.

“They were looking for identification [opposed to verification] of the member at the teller line, so I tweaked the software I had to do that,” said RG2 Solutions president Roger Grant.

Service 1st FCU was also able to use its existing hardware with the new software, preventing them from having to purchase additional hardware.

Reed said the entire roll out process took about three months to implement, including a beta testing period where some of the company’s 81 employees tried out the software to make sure it was working properly.

Today, many of Service 1st FCU employees use the technology to access their own accounts at the teller line.

One particularly unique feature of the system is its ability to assign each finger to an account, making it ideal for those members who hold multiple accounts or are a co-signer on an account.

Service 1st FCU currently has over 4,350 member accounts registered, and creates about 133 new member accounts for the biometrics system, which adds up to just north of 1,700 member swipes per month, said Reed.

Article Topics

authentication  |  banking  |  biometrics  |  fingerprint scanners  |  hardware  |  SDK  |  software