NAB and Microsoft collaborate on biometric ATM concept

National Australia Bank (NAB) and Microsoft have collaborated to design a proof of concept Automatic Teller Machine using cloud and artificial intelligence technology. The cloud-based application was developed using Azure Cognitive Services and enables clients to withdraw cash from an ATM using facial recognition technology and a PIN.

Microsoft and NAB are presenting the proof of concept cardless ATM this week in Sydney, Australia at Sibos 2018, where 8,000 financial services innovators are exploring how data, AI and robotics are driving service innovation and business model renewal for financial service firms worldwide.

“Cloud computing and artificial intelligence present the opportunity for a new generation of secure, streamlined financial services to be developed and rapidly deployed at scale,” explains Steven Worrall, Managing Director of Microsoft Australia. “NAB’s innovation focus is concentrated on meeting the changing needs of the customer; this concept ATM that NAB and Microsoft are working on together provides an important glimpse into the future.”

“We believe AI will profoundly impact financial services and the sorts of solutions that banks will be able to deliver in the future.

“For a consumer facing application such as the AI-powered ATM we’ve developed with NAB, this sort of continuous AI innovation is important. With its cloud-led approach to information systems, NAB is also guaranteed access to every Microsoft cloud-based cognitive service advance as it becomes available.”

According to the announcement, the concept has been designed to test the customer experience of using such technology. The ATM system does not store images, only the biometric data, and the data is held securely on Microsoft’s cloud platform and will be erased following the experiment. The information will be used only for the purpose of authenticating the customer and for no other purpose. Participants in the concept will not have any of their banking information connected to the system.

The concept was developed in approximately two months by a small team from NAB’s in-house innovation lab, NAB Labs, and technology division.

At last week’s Futurecom 2018 event in Brazil, NEC deployed its own proof of concept ATM which demonstrated how people will be able to authorize bank transactions with facial recognition. And in June at Money20/20 Europe, Mastercard and Diebold Nixdorf introduced cardless ATM transactions using mobile device biometrics.

Earlier this year Michael Lynch, chief strategy officer at InAuth, discussed how financial institutions must deploy a multi-layered security strategy in order to mitigate cardless ATM fraud in a guest post.

Article Topics

ATM  |  banking  |  biometrics  |  cloud services  |  facial recognition  |  Microsoft