Bahrain’s Islamic retail bank Ithmaar Bank said it has successfully launched the region’s first biometric-enabled ATM network. The bank has retrofitted all its 43 ATMs with sophisticated fingerprint readers after having completed extensive testing of the new security feature. The bank’s customers now need not use their cards at the bank’s ATMs. Instead, they can simply use their fingerprint along with their PIN to process financial transactions. To use the service for the first time, customers will need to register their fingerprint data at their nearest branch. The launch follows an announcement last September when Ithmaar Bank and Eazy Financial Services unveiled plans to launch the region’s first biometric payment network, supported by the labor fund Tamkeen.
