Fujitsu Europe Limited

Yarg Biometrics and Fujitsu Europe Partner to Develop a Pioneering Palm Vein-based Biometric ID Solution for Schools

Palm vein biometric authentication replaces canteen cash payment at Todholm Primary School in Scotland as part of a government project

28 October, 2006 — Yarg Biometrics Ltd, and Fujitsu Europe Limited today announced their plans to work together to develop a pioneering biometric identification system for schools, based on palm vein authentication technology known as PalmSecure™ from Fujitsu. Yarg and Fujitsu have implemented the technology at Todholm Primary School in Paisley, Scotland. The palm vein-based biometric authentication system, the first of its kind in Europe, is an exciting new way to pay for school meals. This project is part of the Scottish Executive’s “Hungry for Success” initiative to promote the health and social wellbeing of children in Scotland, with a focus on school meals.

Scotland’s Deputy First Minister Nicol Stephen welcomed the news during a visit to Fujitsu’s headquarters in Tokyo, Japan and commented: “This is a groundbreaking and innovative project. I am delighted to see Scottish and Japanese companies working together to develop a smart new way to pay for school meals.”

“This is a quicker and easier system for pupils to use. It also removes the social stigma often attached to free school meals.”

“The technology used here has positive applications well beyond the school canteen. Easy to use biometrics could be of value to large companies that want to protect their premises and employees; or to hotels that want to offer guests the benefits of keyless entry to their facilities. I am delighted that a Scottish company is at the forefront of such innovation.”

The biometric system is based on Fujitsu’s contact-less PalmSecure palm vein authentication technology, which incorporates a device to emit near-infrared light to capture a unique palm vein pattern of the user that can be used for personal identification. The palm vein pattern in an individual’s hand is unique from person to person and even between one’s left and right hands. As veins are inside the body, a palm vein pattern is extremely difficult to falsify, and there is no need for surface contact thereby enabling hygienic use in public places. Yarg Biometrics, an innovative Scottish biometrics company, collaborated with Fujitsu Europe to develop Yarg’s PalmReader™ device, based on Fujitsu’s PalmSecure technology.

The system installation by Amey Group at the primary school addresses the need for a secure non-token or cashless system to provide Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) for their catering facilities. The system uses pre-registered palm vein patterns from the pupils and staff to manage individual accounts thereby creating a cashless catering solution. The flexibility of Yarg’s PalmReader design means that the technology can be expanded to provide leading edge biometric access control applications to monitor truancy levels, to facilitate accurate attendance at classes and overall better time management.

Alan Cunningham, Managing Director at Yarg Biometrics said, “An increasing number of businesses and public sector organisations are looking towards biometric technologies for a multitude of uses. The PalmReader product is initially going to take the hassle out of dealing with cash transactions for pupils but this is only the first step in the use of this product.”

“This installation in the education sector provides a first glimpse of a school of the future,” said Mike Nelson, General Manager, Fujitsu Europe Limited. “Biometric solutions will increasingly allow us to move towards a cashless society and this project is one of the first real examples in the UK of an innovative and truly practical biometric solution in operation. I fully expect this to be the first of many similar implementations across Europe. Yarg Biometrics’ existing architecture and experience provide a strong match for Fujitsu’s PalmSecure technology. The partnership has provided a mechanism to quickly develop a unique, flexible and highly secure biometric solution suitable for a large range of applications. Yarg’s PalmReader offers a scaleable system that can be deployed for physical access control, computer system security as well as point of sale control.”

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About Fujitsu

Fujitsu is a leading provider of customer-focused IT and communications solutions for the global marketplace. Pace-setting device technologies, highly reliable computing and communications products, and a worldwide corps of systems and services experts uniquely position Fujitsu to deliver comprehensive solutions that open up infinite possibilities for its customers' success. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of about 4.8 trillion yen (US$40.6 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006.

About Fujitsu Europe Limited

Operating in Europe/Middle East/Africa, Fujitsu Europe Limited is a market leading provider of document image scanners for professional desktop, workgroup and high volume production environments; Enterprise SCSI, FCAL and SAS, and Mobile ATA and SATA hard disk drives; high capacity external 2.5-inch drives; KVM devices including switches, CAT-5 extenders and pull-out drawers; biometric authentication sensors as well as dot-matrix printers. Established in the United Kingdom in 1981, Fujitsu Europe Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of the global electronics giant Fujitsu Limited and has its head office in the UK as well as subsidiary offices in Germany, Italy and Spain.

About Yarg Biometrics Ltd

Yarg Biometrics was borne out of a specific project - how to easily recognise and speed through 2000 pupils in a school lunch queue, without using swipe card technology. Since then Yarg Biometrics have created a solution that is unique within the Biometrics Industry. With their patented topology they have created a front-end biometric system that integrates seamlessly with any number of business applications.

Yarg Biometrics has the backing of Strathclyde University Incubator, Scottish Enterprise and Gresham House plc, as well as a number of private investors, and is based on the Strathclyde University campus.

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