"We focus on enabling a better experiencing at the branch by trying to streamline the authentication process," Chris Van Der Stad, SVP/CTO, Open Solutions, Fiserv, said.

The palm installation project at Gesa began when Fiserv approached the credit union to be a beta test client.

"This solution looked like a fit for us." Guynn said. Especially since many credit union members are very technical. "A lot of our members are scientists or who use technology on a daily basis." In addition, Gesa has some heavy transaction branches, as well as the desire to add that extra security layer to protect against ID fraud.

The actual palm 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 required about 40 seconds to record the palm vein pattern.

Results of the Gesa credit union pilot led to plans to offer the service at five additional branches. "We've moved from pilot to implementation," Guynn said. He added the credit union put one teller line dedicated to palm authentication in each of eight heavy-transaction branches. Gesa has 16 branches.

Not only did the solution authenticate but also it streamlined the interaction.

"We benchmarked our traditional process and found that it takes about 15 seconds for a member to authenticate themselves at a teller station. Palm vein authentication takes about one second, so we've shaved 14 seconds off each transaction," Guynn noted. "Palm vein authentication speeds up the transaction so members can be in and out of the branch and on with their lives. It's more secure and our members and our tellers love it."

Palm scan technology is an exceptionally secure and accurate form of authentication. Palm vein patterns are complex, with more than 5 million reference points. The veins, hidden under the skin, remain stable throughout a person's life.

Read the full story about how the Gesa Credit Union enabled palm vein authentication for members in the July 20, 2016 print issue of Credit Union Times.

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