Egypt’s National ID Program Innovates With Vein Biometrics

The cutting-edge technology creates a unique “fingerprint” with users’ veins.

Egypt becomes the first nation to launch a national ID program using vein biometrics. They partnered with FinGo’s innovative authentication system to develop the secure and cutting-edge program.

Since 2015, FinGo has integrated Hitachi’s unique VeinID technology to power its biometric authentication solution. The technology shines near-infrared light on users’ fingers and captures the image of the vein pattern using small cameras installed in the scanner. The image is then processed, compressed and stored in a system.

Vein biometrics offer several benefits over its counterparts. Forgery of vein patterns is exceptionally difficult as compared to fingerprints. Furthermore, vein patterns are not easily visible from the outside, and therefore offer additional privacy.

Vein biometrics are also currently more accurate than fingerprint scanning, and are less susceptible to errors caused by finger cuts, moisture or dirt. VeinID is also almost contactless, which is especially helpful during the COVID-19 era. In addition, the vein authentication devices are compact and portable and can therefore be installed on smartphones for efficient and ubiquitous authentication.

Because of these merits, Fast Company has recognized FinGo as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2020. Its technology has already been used in the UK to verify people’s COVID-19 credentials, such as their testing results and vaccination status.

“Our biometric finger vein payment technology offers an innovative and unique way to pay, prove ID or use for access, and our work to date demonstrates the future potential of biometrics,” said Nick Dryden, CEO at FinGo.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Lydia You is a computer scientist from Princeton University living in New York City. She is a Tech Innovation Fellow at Identity Review covering the intersection of global tech policy, internet culture and the future of digital media.

Contact Lydia You at lydia@identityreview.com.

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