Vietnamese Bank Issues Fingerprint-Enabled Debit Cards

sweetpea86 writes "Mekong Development has become the first bank in Vietnam to launch fingerprint authentication enabled debit cards. Fingerprints are captured by Mekong Development at the point of opening an account, and then can be used, instead of a pin, to access funds. Not only has Mekong's account base tripled through the use of fingerprint technology since its launch in June, but the deposit balance per debit card account is two times higher than a regular account."

Re:Great

[ColdWetDog]

So now, instead of just having to worry about your card getting lifted they will also want to chop off your fingers?

No need for the violence. You don't even need [blogspot.com] to have the victim in the room.

(Do not attempt. Professional Driver on a Closed Course. Do Not Try This at Home. Your Mileage May Vary. Do Not Taunt Happy Fun Ball.)

Re:Biometrics are not secrets

[fahrbot-bot]

I do hope that they back it up with a PIN, making it full three-factor authentication. While biometrics are useful in being unique identifiers, they are not secrets [schneier.com]. An attacker could use the gummi bear fingerprint technique [schneier.com] using latent fingerprints extracted from a stolen card...

In addition, The Mythbusters also fooled fingerprint scanners using the same techniques as the Schneier link (above), and also with a photocopy of a fingerprint [discovery.com]:

• A 3-D thumbprint imprinted on a latex strip to be worn over someone else's thumb.
• A 3-D thumbprint imprinted on ballistics gel, which has the same viscosity and density as human tissue.
• A photocopy of a scanned image of Grant's thumbprint.