Pay By Touch, supplier of UK’s retail fingerprint payment system, needs a financial services partner in order to grow its operations. The company went live with a successful pilot program in 2006 but the technology has yet to take off because trusted financial institutions have not been involved. Pay By Touch’s Singapore program is backed by Citibank.

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Liverpool-based Human Recognition Systems (HRS) is hoping to turn Liverpool into the UK hub for the biometrics industry. Investment company Capital Values Group has made an almost £2 million commitment to HRS which specializes in biometrics technology and has worked with the Manchester Airport on security issues. The company hopes that if an identity card plan is launched in the UK then Liverpool could be the base of operations.

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AuthenTec fingerprint sensors are being integrated into LG-Nortel’s IP phone 8540 which utilizes Microsoft’s Unified Communications (UC) solutions. AuthenTec’s AES1510 slide sensor is contoured into the top of the IP Phone 8540 within easy reach of the phone’s keypad and user handset. The sensor is used to authenticate the user of the phone with a simple swipe of a finger, ensuring that only authorized users are granted access to personal and corporate information such as voicemail, call logs, contact lists and calendars. The LG-Nortel IP Phone 8540 is planned to be widely available worldwide in late 2007.

Rimax’s latest contactless palm print reader offers secure access for small, private installations of up to 200 users. Rimax Staff On Time Palm Scan 1:N is a new outdoor biometric terminal that applies one-to-many verification for access control to private businesses and estates. Users simply hold their palm up to the reader and Palm Scan verifies their access rights in approximately one second. An inbuilt intercom and webcam within the unit extends usage to non-registered visitors. The reader will be distributed by Databac Group.

SmartMetric has released its Biometric ID Pass, a self-contained ID-checking system designed to speed up access to facilities. The employee simply touches his ID card with his finger to activate the Radio Frequency transmission to security. If it’s his card, he’ll be granted entrance. If it’s a stolen card, the fingerprints won’t match and he’ll be denied entry. No central database of fingerprints is required since they are stored inside the card. The system is compatible with existing standard contactless card doorway systems.

Coast Guard wins agency award for its Identix portable, rugged biometric handhelds used in the Mona Passage near the Dominican Republic to counteract illegal immigrants. The scanners are tied to the Homeland Security Department’s US-VISIT Automated Biometric Identification database (Ident). The program is now in place on five cutters. Biometric and biographic data from the migrants is transferred to laptops on the ships and stored in encrypted files, which are then sent to US-VISIT as e-mail attachments. The information is automatically erased from the handheld scanners when it is transferred to the laptop. Results are returned within two minutes. Based on the fingerprints collected to date, 9 percent of the fingerprint matches to US-VISIT’s database are convicted felons, and 20 percent have orders of deportation barring them from entering the United States.

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Lumidigm has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II contract by the U.S. Army in the amount of $730,000 to continue development of a multimodal whole-hand biometric sensor. Four distinct biometric signals will be collected for each hand insertion: fingerprints, palmprints, skin textural characteristics, and hand shape. Michigan State University’s Anil Jain will lend his expertise in optimizing biometric performance with the fusion of multiple biometric signals.

Parliament’s security advisors have decided not to use fingerprint biometrics to enhance the security surrounding the House of Commons and Lords out of fear that it could cause mutilation of elected officials or staff. Authorities fear that terrorists might cut off politician’s fingers in order to defeat the system. Experts also feared that existing fingerprint technology is unreliable and cannot cope with dirty or sweaty fingers, or those with particular racial characteristics.

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The electronic access control systems market has grown significantly in the Asia Pacific region due to heightened security concerns, the advent of IP-based surveillance systems and fewer biometric regulatory issues. Frost & Sullivan research has found that revenues in this market totaled half a billion dollars in 2006 and is expected to reach $1.34 billion by 2013. Overall, market growth is expected to be driven primarily by cards-based systems and biometric applications. Access cards are likely to experience increased adoption rates, and their share is expected to increase from 32.6 percent in 2008 to almost 60.0 percent by 2013. In this research, Frost & Sullivan’s analysts examined cards-based, biometrics-based, and key pad-based EAC technologies in 11 Asian countries.

The University of Kent has signed a partnership agreement with Electrone Europe. Electrone Europe will provide two advanced subcutaneous fingerprint scanners and £2,000 annual prize to support students studying biometrics and fund a Student Resource Centre in biometrics. The scanners will be used for technology evaluation and high-tech research projects within the UK Biometrics Institute (UKBI) at the University of Kent.