Fiserv received the 2016 IDC Financial Insights FinTech Rankings Real Results Award for Customer Engagement for pioneering the use of Verifast: Palm Authentication at $1.7 billion Gesa Credit Union in Richland, Wash.
Gesa Credit Union is reading palms to reduce identity fraud, shrink transaction times and improve overall branch service. To accomplish this feat, the credit union employed the Brookfield, Wis.-based core processor Fiserv’s Verifast: Palm Authentication. The solution integrates Fujitsu PalmSecure biometric technology with the Fiserv’s DNA account processing platform. The Verifast solution validates members’ IDs when they hold their hand over an infrared sensing device that detects a person’s unique palm vein pattern.
“We are thrilled to present Fiserv with the IDC Financial Insights FinTech Rankings Real Results Award for the implementation of biometric palm authentication at Gesa Credit Union,” Karen Massey, senior analyst for banking at IDC said. “This implementation demonstrated not only innovation in customer engagement, but also measurable benefits to the credit union and its members.”
The winning initiative centered on a beta program in which Fiserv and Gesa Credit Union worked together to integrate secure palm-vein biometric authentication into the Fiserv’s DNA account processing platform. This was the first palm-vein authentication solution implemented in a U.S. financial institution, according to Fiserv.
“Overall we think this is an excellent solution for our credit union to move forward into the future of how we transform and deliver service to our members,” Gesa Director of Products Karl Guynn told CU Times in July.
The actual palm scan pilot began in October 2015 at three Gesa branches. Gesa utilized signage to promote the pilot and devoted one station at each location to the registration process, which records a palm vein pattern in about 40 seconds.
The credit union tied the biometric pilot into the Star Wars: The Force Awakens film release. The pilot ran for three months through the last year’s holiday season.
“Biometric authentication via palm vein scanning can enhance customer engagement by providing a convenient, fast, and highly secure method of identification,” Chris VanDerStad, senior vice president and chief technology officer, Open Solutions, Fiserv said. “As biometrics increasingly becomes part of our daily lives, Fiserv is leveraging these technologies to drive best-in-class results for our financial institution clients and outstanding experiences for their customers.”
Verifast: Palm Authentication from Fiserv takes advantage of near-infrared light to capture a user’s palm vein pattern and matches it against a database of pre-registered customers for authentication, eliminating the need for customers to present a photo ID or enter an account number. A National Consumer Research Survey conducted by Raddon in April 2016 found that 83% of consumers rated palm authentication somewhat to extremely valuable.
During the beta program, Fiserv and Gesa found that the Verifast solution reduced the time it takes to authenticate a member in the branch by 93%, providing an improved customer experience, more time for personalized interaction, and enhanced security. On a 1-to-5 point scale with 5 being the best, about 99.9% of Gesa members using the solution rated the palm vein technology a 5 on both the registration process and use.
Now in its second year, the IDC Financial Insights FinTech Rankings Real Results Awards, based on 2015 calendar year revenues attributed to financial institutions, recognizes IT providers that enabled a genuine, measurable, and future-enabling change at a client financial institution. It is part of the broader IDC Financial Insights FinTech Rankings program. Fiserv ranked fourth out of 125 vendors in the latest IDC FinTech rankings.
