SINGAPORE (Nov 19): Hitachi Ltd is in talks with a major bank in Malaysia, via its unit Hitachi eBworx Bhd, to bring in its finger vein authentication technology to strengthen the bank's security system, said the group's regional senior vice president and general manager for ICT solutions business Mitsuhisa Kajiyoshi.
Kajiyoshi declined to reveal the bank's name and just said that it is "a yellow colour bank". It is understood that the bank in question is Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), the largest bank in Malaysia with over 400 domestic branches.
"The bank heard about how Barclays had done it with our technology. So they are very interested," Kajiyoshi told reporters at the Hitachi Innovation Forum 2014 (HIF 2014) here.
In September, Barclays launched the Barclays Biometric Reader that was developed with Hitachi's finger vein authentication technology (VeinID) in the UK.
Instead of the hassle of inputting passwords or authentication codes, Barclays customers will, by 2015, be able to access their online bank accounts and authorise payments with just a scan of their fingers.
Hitachi said the system is more secure than the more common fingerprint authentication technology because the latter can be easily duplicated. VeinID, on the other hand, works by reading and verifying a user's vein.
"Unlike finger prints, vein patterns are extremely difficult to spoof and replicate. The finger must be attached to a live human body in order for the veins in the finger to be authenticated," said a Hitachi VeinID expert when met at the HIF 2014.
The technology is already being widely used in Japan by banks for the past 15 years for password replacement, single sign-ons, and at ATM machines.
It has also been introduced into the US and Europe, though the Barclays Biometric Reader, which combines VeinID with the digital signature technology, is reportedly a first for the global financial sector.
Since acquiring Hitachi eBworx (formerly eBworx Bhd) in 2012, Hitachi has been looking to expand its information communication technology (ICT) solutions for the financial sector, not just by leveraging on eBworx's existing customers in Malaysia, but also reaching outward to neighbouring countries like Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and China.
In April, Hitachi eBworx which provides digital solutions for credit management , delivery channel - be it cash, Internet banking or branch - and trade finance, said it was targeting to sign up five tier-1 banks in Indochina as customers by year-end.
The 104-year-old company has been flying high in recent years with record profit figures following an amazing turnaround in FY2010 after carving out non-profitable consumer-related segments like mobile phones and flat panel televisions, to focus on big ticket industrial items like power plants, rail systems, and big data analytics through its information and telecommunication systems.
"Our investors think Hitachi can achieve much higher revenues. So, going forward, US, China, and Asia - in particular Asean - are very important markets to us.
"They are key markets that will determine Hitachi's further growth. That's why we hold our innovation forum here, as Singapore is strategically located among Asean (nations)," said Hitachi president and chief operations officer Toshiaki Higashihara on choosing Singapore as HIF 2014's venue this year.
Asia contributed about 989.9 billion yen to Hitachi's 1.93 trillion yen revenue in FY2013, of which 60% is from Asean markets. It targets to grow its Asian business revenue by 30% in FY2015.
Hitachi posted a net profit of 175.3 billion yen in FY2012 and 264.9 billion yen in FY2013. It targets a profit of 250 billion yen for FY2014 and over 350 billion yen for FY2015.
Its second quarter ended Sept 30 (1HFY14) showed a net profit of 91.5 billion yen, almost triple 1HFY13's 32.7 billion yen.
Comparatively, it had posted losses between FY2006 and FY2009, with the most staggering net loss recorded at 787.34 billion yen in FY2008.