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Ithmaar Bank, a Bahrain-based Islamic retail bank announced today that it has successfully launched the region’s first biometric-enabled Automated Teller Machine (ATM) network.

The announcement was made after Ithmaar Bank retrofitted all it 43 ATMs with sophisticated fingerprint readers after having completed extensive testing of the new, first of its kind security feature.

His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa had earlier (ed note 12/03/19) inaugurated the Eazy biometric payment network by making Ithmaar Bank the first biometric bank in the region.

“I take this opportunity to, once again, thank His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa for the unstinted support to the Kingdom’s banking and finance industry in general and this path breaking initiative in particular,” said Ithmaar Bank Chief Executive, Ahmed Abdul Rahim. “This helps further reinforce Bahrain’s already prominent position as a key and innovative banking hub in the region,” he said.

The pioneering initiative was first announced last September when Ithmaar Bank and Eazy Financial Services unveiled plans to launch the region’s first biometric payment network, supported by the Labour Fund “Tamkeen”, to provide a new and more efficient alternative for customers to conduct many of their financial transactions. Ithmaar Bank’s inauguration of the first biometric-enabled ATM network is part of the Bank’s digital initiatives and is in line with the Bank’s commitment to customer-centricity.

“The initiative is a result of the financial support of Tamkeen, with the support of the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) and the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB),” said Abdul Rahim. “It is something we can all be justifiably proud of, and it would not have been possible without all their support and guidance,” he said.

“Ithmaar Bank is determined to become the retail bank of choice,” said Abdul Rahim. “To do so, we invest heavily in continuously developing our products and services to ensure we meet or exceed customer expectations,” he said.

Following the commissioning, Ithmaar Bank customers are no longer required to use their cards at the Bank’s ATMs. Instead, they can simply use their fingerprint along with their PIN to process financial transactions. This provides a simpler, more secure way to process financial transactions than ever before.

To use the service for the first time, customers will need to register their fingerprint data at their nearest branch. The one-time registration only takes a few minutes and allows customer immediate access to the new service.

“The new biometric payment network allows customers to interact with the Bank in a safer, more secure and, ultimately, more convenient way,” said Abdul Rahim. “This opens up an exciting new world of possibilities which, in future, may also include points of sale,” he said.

The network is based on a platform that was developed by Eazy Financial Services, a Bahrain fintech start-up, and built on a powerful Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) one of the most reliable and trusted biometric engines which is deployed and implemented in many countries around the world for both civil and forensic applications. Eazy Financial Services adopts a rigorous “Identification Algorithm” which has earned the highest honours from several standards organizations and authorities.