Feature Company

Interview with Hiroko Naito, Manager Business Development, Fujitsu Computer Products of America
October 2006

FB
When did Fujitsu become involved with vascular pattern research?

HN
Research started about 5 1/2 years ago. It is important to mention that Fujitsu has been involved with the biometric technology in general, meaning other biometric modalities, recognition technologies, longer than that. We have fingerprint technology, we have facial recognition technology and have commercialized both of these as well. And so these led to our interest in vascular recognition. It was about 2 1/2 years ago that we successfully commercialised it in our home country, Japan.

FB
In speaking of that Hiroko, I know that the product has been very successfully deployed in Japan. Could you give us some examples of where it is being used and in what vertical markets?

HN
The biggest success for Fujitsu in Japan is in the financial sector...namely banking. We have over 20 financial institutions that are successfully using our technology today. One of the biggest deployments we have is with the Tokyo UFJ Mitsubishi bank. They went straight to the customer facing solution and deployed a secure account service. They provide the ATM card, smart card technology and then offer the biometric security. So customers have on their smart card the vascular pattern biometric data. This increase the security level tremendously.

FB
How has this been received at the consumer level?

HN
The deployment went very smoothly and they actually started off by charging a premium to their customers, but now offer it as complimentary as part of the overall service they provide. Because we have not received any negative feedback at all and we think that it has been well received by the bank's customers.

FB
What would you say are the advantages of vascular pattern over other types of biometrics?

HN
When you look at authentication accuracy, Iris has always been at the top. However we feel that there are some limitations in terms of applicability. With vascular pattern technology, the authentication accuracy is very high and it is also very flexible and easy to use for the large majority of people. Virtually everyone can use our technology fairly easily. Another advantage of our technology over fingerprint is hygiene. Because these devices are used by many people there is sometimes a concern about cleanliness...how do you keep it clean and germ free? With our technology you just hold your hand over the device and no direct contact is required. This is especially important in areas like healthcare! Finally, vascular pattern technology is extremely hard to spoof or fake. Our sensors are measuring the blood flow inside your veins and therefore it must be a real "live" hand being presented.

FB
Can you tell us more about the next generation PalmSecure product that was recently announced?

HN
The form factor is much smaller and the authentication speed is dramatically reduced from our previous models down to 1.5 seconds. The materials are also more robust allowing it to be used in many different environments. We also changed the filter on the sensor to a glass based one that can be easily cleaned without worry of scratching.

FB
Hiroko, thank you very much for speaking with us today.

HN
It has been my pleasure Peter.

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