Credit card fraud at point of sale is a growing global problem.  In the UK it reached £505m in 2004.  The introduction of Chip & PIN will reduce the continual annual rise for many aspects of fraud.  However, Identity Theft (£6.9m in 2004) is expected to rise as a consequence.

• The current Chip & PIN solution is expected to be outdated by 2009 when 4-digit PINs will not be sufficiently secure for the number of cards in circulation.

European banks are already starting to investigate alternatives, including the addition of biometric data, such as fingerprints.

But the most secure solution is already available. The trained signature filter parameters that are at the heart of KeCrypt’s biometric solution can be held on a smart card.  At the point of sale, customers will have their smart cards read and sign a writing tablet.  Local verification of the cardholder can then be provided to the retailer.  Failure or sizable transactions can still be linked through to the card provider for further credit and spending pattern checks.

Platform
KeCrypt signature authentication currently operates with Tablet PCs, Pocket PCs and writing tablets (scribble pads).   KeCrypt is developing the appropriate platforms incorporating 3rd party devices and partnering to develop complementary hardware, such as a pocket device similar to other authentication key fob devices.  We would expect the demand for such a device to be considerable.
Such devices will offer financial institutions and retailers a secure solution at an affordable price for internet purchases where fraud is increasing at an alarming rate following the introduction of Chip & PIN.

Document lock down
KeCrypt already provides its OEM partners with the ability to include KeCrypt signature verification in their electronic forms utilising a valid signature to facilitate the lock down of forms or sections of forms.  This enables data integrity to be combined with non-repudiation through the use of the signature biometric.  KeCrypt will extend this to standard Microsoft Office and PDF documents.  This may be combined with the use of Digital Signatures.  KeCrypt is happy to work with Digital Signature Service Providers to combine their services with KeCrypt’s biometric signature.

Workflow
KeCrypt’s OEM partners can already use the KeCrypt biometric signature with electronic forms to enable workflow controls.  KeCrypt plans to find suitable APIs to enable the plug-in of KeCrypt signature verification for users of market leading workflow packages.

Identity Management
The current API provided to KeCrypt’s OEM partners does not prescribe any server storage restrictions in the management of the biometric parameters to be associated with the user ID and other user attributes.  KeCrypt plans to work with leading Identity Management package providers and ID server storage schemas to enable the KeCrypt signature verification to also act as a simple plug-in to ID management systems.

APACS – Card Fraud Facts 2005