Japanese Racing Association bets on Fujitsu palm vein biometrics

People placing bets with the Japanese Racing Association (JRA) will soon be able to place bets and collect payouts with contactless palm vein biometrics at cashless kiosks developed jointly by Fujitsu Limited and Fujitsu Frontech Limited. The kiosks will begin operation later in September at the Tokyo Racecourse, according to the announcement.

Event attendees with JRA-UMACA contactless membership cards can load the card with money, and link it to pre-registered palm vein information, which then allows them to securely place cashless bets, and authenticate their identity to collect winnings. The system is intended to eliminate the inconvenience of receiving numerous coins in change and keeping track of betting tickets. It also creates a barrier to counterfeiting, and supports JRA’s anonymous memberships.

The highly accurate and hygienic authentication method can also be used for reissuance of a lost card, and prevents a lost card from being used by another individual, Fujitsu says.

The JRA and Fujitsu plan to deploy the kiosks to racecourses in Fukushima, Chukyo, and Hanshin, and eventually to all racecourses and WINS off-course betting facilities nationwide.

Fujitsu has recently introduced several innovations for using palm vein biometrics as a method of authentication for payment, including a self-registration system for retail use in South Korea, and a field trial of cardless retail POS systems at selected Ministop convenience stores in Japan.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  Fujitsu  |  identity verification  |  Japan  |  palm vein authentication