Swedish palmprint recognition payment possible

Palmprint recognition is a relatively new biometric identification technology proposed in recent years. Palmprint refers to the image of the palm of your hand from the tip of your finger to your wrist. The pattern of the palmprint is controlled by genetic genes. Even if the skin peels off for some reason, the new palmprint line still maintains its original structure. Everyone has different palm print lines. Even if they are twins, their palm prints are only similar, but not exactly the same. Many of these features can be used for identification: such as main lines, wrinkles, fine textures, ridge endings, bifurcation points, and so on. Palmprint recognition is also a method of identification, users are more easily accepted, and the collection equipment is not required.

Frederic Loveland, a graduate student in industrial engineering and management at Lund University in Sweden, has made this a reality – his company has successfully installed palmprint recognition payment systems in local coffee shops and shops.

"This system is very popular!" said Loveland, the payment system successfully replaced the ***, making the payment time reduced to "less than 5 seconds."

The palmprint recognition system is identical in structure to other biometric identification systems. They all consist of two parts: the training sample entry phase and the test sample classification phase. The training sample entry phase can be described as follows: First, the collected palmprint training samples are preprocessed, then feature extraction is performed, and the extracted palmprint features are stored in the feature database to be matched with the classified samples. In the test sample classification stage, after the acquired test sample is subjected to the same preprocessing and feature extraction steps as the training sample, it is sent to the classifier for classification. Both parts include the following three steps: palmprint image acquisition, preprocessing, and feature extraction.

At present, there are 15 restaurants and shops in Lund City installed the scanning terminal device, and more than 1600 consumers have registered to use the system. With support from the school, Loveland is currently actively promoting this new application.

Two years ago, when Loveland waited for a long line at the supermarket, he had the idea of ​​finding a faster and more effective payment method. He locked the target on biometric solutions. Palmprint recognition technology already existed at that time, but it was not applied in the field of payment.

After initial independent entrepreneurship, Loveland invited his team, Carle Elmer, to form a team. Loveland described his partner as a "technical genius." After their joint research and development, this payment system was launched in February 2013. Levland said: "We must establish relationships with each other on our own, involving palmprint recognition terminals, banks, shops and customers. The process is still very complicated."

Consumers wishing to apply to join the system can choose any shop or restaurant that already has a palmprint scanning device terminal, enter their own demographic number and phone number, and scan the palm of your hand three times. The mobile phone will then receive a message from the system website. Activate the use of the linked text message, and then fill out the form of some additional information to complete the registration, you can use.

Loveland said that it is faster and safer to scan palm prints than to pay with a bank card. “Everyone’s palm print is unique, so in this payment system, you have to scan your palm print to complete the payment, and it is difficult for others to implement fraud,” he said. “This solution is a win-win situation for both buyers and sellers. ."

When asked how to ensure the safety of consumer palmprint personal data, Loveland explained that his company is equipped with multiple security measures to protect sensitive customer information. "The customer palmprint information stored in the system can only be identified in our system. Even if the data is stolen, it cannot be copied in other systems."

When talking about the company's internal protection of sensitive personal information of customers, Loveland said that customer information is safe. "When the palmprint was scanned, we only intercepted the most basic data and saved it, and these data are simply not enough to be used to copy the customer's palm print."

At present, the use of this new payment system only exists in Lund, southern Sweden. Loveland said that the company will continue to promote the application of the system in a wider area.