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[February 16, 2006]

Norinchukin Bank to issue biometric bank cards from October+

(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, Feb. 16_(Kyodo) _ Norinchukin Bank will issue beginning this October biometric bank cards that identify cardholders by looking at veins in their palms, bank officials said Thursday.


The new cards to be introduced by the banking institution, which serves members of agricultural cooperatives nationwide, will utilize technology developed by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., with which Norinchukin allied in the field of retail banking last September.

In order to foil attempts at card theft and forgeries, financial institutions are issuing either cards that examine palm or finger veins. Since Norinchukin presides over some 38 million ordinary bank accounts, its move to opt for palm vein-based personal identification might sway the decisions of other banks that have yet to introduce such biometric cards, industry observers say.

New Norinchukin cards will also be embedded with integrated circuits to better process banking transactions. The bank says it will leave it to cooperatives in each prefecture to decide whether to use the biometric function of the cards.

The new cards will likely be introduced first mainly in major urban areas such as Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka because the improved safety features offered by biometric cards might prove useful in competing with other financial institutions, according to the officials.

Mitsubishi UFJ will handle new card issuance for Norinchukin.

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