Hitachi begins sale of finger vein authentication device in China
In Japan, Hitachi’s finger vein authentication technology is the de facto standard in the financial sector, with about 80 percent of Japanese financial institutions adopting it; the company believes it is now to conquer the rest of the world
China is a big market for everything, including biometric devices. Hitachi (NYSE: HIT / TSE: 6501) said it would begin the sale of its door access control system by finger vein authentication in Asia starting in October as the first step of its global sales.
The finger vein pattern recognition technology has been under development at the Hitachi Central Research Institute for several years, and the company received quite a few patents for the technology. Hitachi has now commercialized the operating system and various applications, including PC login devices and validation devices for ATMs in Japan. As we have written, validation devices for ATMs are fast becoming a de facto standard, with about 80 percent of the financial institutions in Japan adopting finger vein biometrics by of the end of March 2007. Now, as adoption of finger vein pattern recognition increases in Japan, the interest in other markets is also increasing. One of the first markets beyond Japan to show interest in the technology is the Chinese market. Interest is also growing in other markets, and Hitachi recently installed a system at the New York branch of the Shinkin Central Bank.
