4 Nov 2006

Palm vein biometric authentication replaces canteen cash payment at Todholm Primary School in Scotland as part of a government project

Yarg Biometrics Ltd, and Fujitsu Europe Limited today announced their plans to work together to develop a pioneering biometric identification system for schools, based on palm vein authentication technology known as PalmSecureTM from Fujitsu.  Yarg and Fujitsu have implemented the technology at Todholm Primary School in Paisley, Scotland.

The palm vein-based biometric authentication system, the first of its kind in Europe, is an exciting new way to pay for school meals.

This project is part of the Scottish Executive's "Hungry for Success" initiative to promote the health and social well being of children in Scotland, with a focus on school meals.  

Scotland's Deputy First Minister Nicol Stephen welcomed the news during a visit to Fujitsu's headquarters in Tokyo, Japan and commented:

"This is a groundbreaking and innovative project.  I am delighted to see Scottish and Japanese companies working together to develop a smart new way to pay for school meals." 
 
"This is a quicker and easier system for pupils to use.  It also removes the social stigma often attached to free school meals." 
 
"The technology used here has positive applications well beyond the school canteen.  Easy to use biometrics could be of value to large companies that want to protect their premises and employees; or to hotels that want to offer guests the benefits of keyless entry to their facilities.  I am delighted that a Scottish company is at the forefront of such innovation."

The biometric system is based on Fujitsu's contact-less PalmSecure palm vein authentication technology, which incorporates a device to emit near-infrared light to capture a unique palm vein pattern of the user that can be used for personal identification.  The palm vein pattern in an individual's hand is unique from person to person and even between one's left and right hands.  As veins are inside the body, a palm vein pattern is extremely difficult to falsify, and there is no need for surface contact thereby enabling hygienic use in public places.

Yarg Biometrics, an innovative Scottish biometrics company, collaborated with Fujitsu Europe to develop Yarg's PalmReader device, based on Fujitsu's PalmSecure technology.

The system installation by Amey Group at the primary school addresses the need for a secure non-token or cashless system to provide Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) for their catering facilities.  The system uses pre-registered palm vein patterns from the pupils and staff to manage individual accounts thereby creating a cashless catering solution.  The flexibility of Yarg's PalmReader design means that the technology can be expanded to provide leading edge biometric access control applications to monitor truancy levels, to facilitate accurate attendance at classes and overall better time management.

Alan Cunningham, Managing Director at Yarg Biometrics said, "An increasing number of businesses and public sector organisations are looking towards biometric technologies for a multitude of uses.  The PalmReader product is initially going to take the hassle out of dealing with cash transactions for pupils but this is only the first step in the use of this product."

"This installation in the education sector provides a first glimpse of a school of the future," said Mike Nelson, General Manager, Fujitsu Europe Limited.  "Biometric solutions will increasingly allow us to move towards a cashless society and this project is one of the first real examples in the UK of an innovative and truly practical biometric solution in operation.  I fully expect this to be the first of many similar implementations across Europe.  Yarg Biometrics' existing architecture and experience provide a strong match for Fujitsu's PalmSecure technology.  The partnership has provided a mechanism to quickly develop a unique, flexible and highly secure biometric solution suitable for a large range of applications.  Yarg's PalmReader offers a scalable system that can be deployed for physical access control, computer system security as well as point of sale control."