JAPAN: THE WORLD'S FIRST IRIS-SCANNING ATM IS INSTALLED IN TOKYO.

Record ID: 861138

  • Title: JAPAN: THE WORLD'S FIRST IRIS-SCANNING ATM IS INSTALLED IN TOKYO.
  • Date: 1st September 1999
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (AUGUST 31, 1999) (REUTERS) GV/CU: EXTERIOR OF TAKEFUJI CORP'S "YEN SHOP" (2 SHOTS) MV: INTERIOR OF CONSUMER LOAN COMPANY AND MAN ENTERING TO REGISTER SV/MV/CU: MAN STARING AT THE CAMERA/ IRIS SCAN ON COMPUTER MONITOR (5 SHOTS) CU: (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) KENICHI NAGASHIMA SAYING: "Recently there's been an increase in the use of stolen and fraudulent cards, We, at Takefuji, installed these machines in order to prevent (such scams) and make ATMs more user-friendly" SCU: MAN STARES AT SCANNING CAMERAS MV: CLOSE UP OF BLINKING LIGHTS AS SCAN PROCESSES EYE CU/SV: TEN THOUSAND YEN NOTES (APPROXIMATELY 100 U.S. DOLLARS) COMING OUT OF MACHINE (2 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 16th September 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
  • City:
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: General,Economy,Technology
  • Reuters ID: LVA67BMSJTFHIRO9ZKFIUWATI3V0
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder but in Japan it may also hold the key to one's bank account.
    A Japanese financial institution has become the first in the world to install iris-scanning automatic teller machines (ATMs).
    Takefuji Corp, a consumer loan company, has become the first commercial institution in the world to install iris scans as a means to check a person's identity so now, that glint in your eye may now have the colour of money.
    Forget access codes, forget high-tech chip cards -- to get the latest loan in Japan all you have to do is stare at the automatic teller machine (ATM).
    The process is simple.At the shop counter,you register a snapshot of your eye, which is promptly recorded into the computer's database.Once that's done, type in your birth date at the cash dispenser and look into the scanning cameras.It takes only two seconds for the computer to check your iris and in a blink of an eyelid, your cash is ready.
    The technology, called iris-based biometrics identification, actually originated from the U.S.however in 1995, Oki Electric Industry bought the rights, and first put it to use during the Nagano Winters Olympics of 1998 as part of the game's security measures.
    The iris is aptly suited for such use as no two irises are alike.In fact, this system is considered even more accurate than fingerprint or palm print technology with a potential error rate in ID checks estimated at one in 10 billion.
    "We, at Takefuji, installed these machines in order to prevent (frauds and scams) and to make ATMs more user-friendly," said Takefuji's Kenichi Nagashima.
    Takefuji Corp is now looking at expansion.It has installed six iris scan machines in major cities nationwide and plans for it to eventually replace all its ATMs.
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