ost people are familiar with the concept of using fingerprints, iris scans or voice recognition in biometric security solutions, but what about veins in the palm of a hand?

Fujitsu Ltd. has developed a contactless palm vein authentication device, which captures a person's palm image with near infrared rays. A number of banks, concerned about protecting consumer financial data, are adopting this technology for use with bankcards.

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd. was the first to implement the technology. In order to achieve higher levels of security, the bank introduced it in October 2004 as part of its new multifunctional Super IC [integrated circuit] Card Tokyo-Mitsubishi Visa.

Super IC cardholders use their cards, which contain images of their palm's vein patterns stored on an IC chip, at ATMs or with tellers. Here's how the solution works: Users have their palm vein pattern prerecorded to be stored on the card's chip. They then pass their hand over a contactless scanner to verify a match. Cardholders also use a PIN for authentication.

Fujitsu said its customers have already experienced great success using the palm vein device for identification purposes in financial institutions. The company began marketing the technology to the EMEA market in June 2005.

The United States is still behind in wide-scale adoption of biometrics solutions. It will take some time before [U.S.] consumers widely adopt this or any other biometrics technology, said Ariana-Michele Moore, a Senior Analyst with Celent Communications LLC. "At the end of the day, the U.S. is so far behind the curve with biometrics," she said. "I see the government leading the way."

Moore predicts that in five to 10 years, consumers across the country will more commonly use a biometrics solution. However, with regard to palm vein readers, she said there are still some unanswered questions concerning the physical effects. "What is the impact?" she said. "How is it different than an X-ray?"