ATM: Customers’ Laud Zenith’s Biometric Option

By Ella Makondo

Strong reactions have greeted the introduction of a biometric option for customers of Zenith Bank in transacting at its Automatic Teller Machines, ATMs.

The biometric option which the bank communicated to its customers recently, allows them to use the fingerprint to identify themselves and make transactions on ATMs.

This option is seen as an easy channel for transacting by customers who are in the habit of misplacing their cards or those who do not carry their cards about.

This option is seen as an easy channel for transacting by customers who are in the habit of misplacing their cards or those who do not carry their cards about.

While many customers have commended the bank for the initiative, not a few are uncomfortable with the development as they claimed it would be difficult for uneducated persons to access the service.

In a chat with GWG, a resident of Lafia, Nasarawa State, Mr Suleiman Garuba said the development was a good one adding that the biometric option would  replace  the traditional method of identification which is he said can be a failure.

According to him, the concept of possessing something that no one else has and which can help distinguish you from others was the best due to the increasing rate of fraud  being committed in the banking sector, saying the biometric option would  obtain adequate security for customers.

“We need biometric or finger print identification because the traditional method of identification has failed us.

Thus , the concept of possessing something that no one else can access your bank account and which can help distinguish you from others is a plus.  The idea is that you know something that is not easily known by others and with the rise of information technology, computers require to identify its user to ensure information and account security. Human readable Identification methods like ID cards or documents offer no help when it comes to user identification on information systems.

“Biometrics which is an emerging field of technology devoted to identification of individuals on the basis of their biological traits, such as those based on retina-scans, iris-patterns, fingerprints or face recognition as it is being proposed by Zenith bank is a welcome development,” he further submitted.

“Since biometrics is making its way to more and more applications, it is good time to know that what are the advantages of the growing popularity of biometric which proves that it is filling the gaps of traditional identification methods.

“Instead of typing a PIN or swiping a pattern which also includes struggle involved in failed attempts I personally prefer to touch fingerprint sensor on my phone. Your hand gets so adjusted that you can scan your finger while picking your phone from the table or taking it out from the pocket, and by the time your eyes are on the screen, it is already unlocked.

“By and large customers will get used to using their fingerprints at the ATM machine. Also, customers will no longer be afraid to have an onlooker or have someone stand so close to them and trying to illegally steal their pin number during withdrawer.

“Biometric identification eliminates all hassles associated with IDs, passwords and other possession or knowledge based identification methods, making identification a truly convenient experience,” he said.

However, Mr Garuba said that the biometric option has its own disadvantages which are  based  on technological systems  since biometric identifiers cannot be changed in emergencies unlike PINs or passwords.

Another resident of Lafia , Ms Patience Jacob commended the bank for coming up with the initiative, saying it will help in curbing the spate of crimes committed in the state.

“Even though I am not a customer of Zenith bank I think it’s a good development. It will help in curbing the rate of fraud in the society. This is because no one can use your thumb print anywhere except you.

“It will do away with the issue of snatching of ATM cards at the bank  .

“We are already in a digital world so it is a welcome development and we hope it will be successfully in Nigeria. But let it not be like some policies that after introducing them  nobody hears about it and it will never come like other bank  policies that will come and when customers get to know about it, then it disappears without customer’s knowledge,” Ms Jacob said.

On his part another  bank customer , Mr Allen Gagher, however, expressed fear as to the capacity of bank customers to handle the new technology.

He narrated how N48,000 naira was swept from his account (not Zenith Bank) on Monday without his consent

He said: “For now I don’t think we have that kind of technology to manage such technology in this country because even the normal ATM transfer that we have been using is not going well with someone of us.

” My personal experience today has proven beyond responsible doubt that this country’s banking systems is not yet secured. I was on transit this  afternoon and  I got multiple debit alerts on my phone and when I brought out my phone, when I brought out my phone to check , I discovered that I was debited to the tone of N48,000 and I was right there with my ATM and I have not compromised my login pin .

Send Us A Press Statement Advertise With Us Contact Us

 And For More Nigerian News Visit GWG.NG