China developing ATM with face recognition

ENGINEERS are developing the first ATM in China with facial recognition technology to identify users of bank cards.
THE official Xinhua news agency reports Beijing's Tsinghua University and Hangzhou-based security company Tzekwan Technology developed the prototype.
The new technology will help reduce crimes committed using ATMs, Tzekwan Technology CEO Gu Zikun says. Chinese ATMs had until now depended entirely on foreign technology but will now have access to an exclusively domestic system, Gu says. The new ATM technology is being unveiled in the same month that the government launched the "Made in China" campaign to promote domestic innovation. Companies in several countries, including the United States, have tested ATMs that use fingerprints and facial recognition technology to identify users, but questions have been raised about the viability of such systems.