ITCARD, a Polish provider of banking services, has announced the launch of the first European network of biometric ATMs, in partnership with Japanese electronics company Hitachi.
The ‘Planet Cash’ ATM network promises “Cash within your finger”, using the ‘Finger Vein’ reader, a technology developed by Hitachi in Japan.
It will allow customers to withdraw cash and perform other operations – balance check, immediate money transfer, etc. – by their finger, without the use of the card and PIN.
Jaros?aw Chrzanowski, CEO at ITCARD, said: “Finger Vein is a key technology in our company’s strategy. We’ve already been using it for ATMs in the cooperative banking sector.
“Once again, ITCARD is making a revolution in the market by launching the first biometric shared network in Europe which can be used by all banking customers.”
500 ATMs have already been installed and Planet Cash plans to add 1,500 more by the end of the year, including in retailer chains such as Biedronka, Carrefour and Intermarché, and in the branches of banks such as Bank BG?.
ITCARD aims to reach an 11% share of the ATM market in Poland. The company is currently processing more than 12m card transactions per month and has outsourced more than 3,500 ATMs.
This announcement follows ITCARD and Hitachi’s agreement over ‘Finger Vein’ that the two companies signed in March 2014.
Since 2009, the ‘Finger Vein’ technology has been introduced to both Polish and Turkish banking sectors.
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