Saudi Arabian electronic banking and ATM provider Alhamrani Universal (AU) is looking to be the first to bring a new generation of ATMs to its domestic market boasting top notch security enhancements like blockchain-based biometric features and five-factor authentication.

Alhamrani Universal claims to be the largest ATM provider in the Middle East holding more than 50% of the market share in Saudi Arabia. It has partnered with blockchain-powered identity authentication platform ShoCard to design a new biometric authentication ATM compatible with local banks, ShoCard revealed in a press statement (Feb 27).

Customers will be able to use a blockchain-based app and facial recognition instead of personal identification numbers to withdraw money from such machines. Biometrics as part of a five-factor authentication process will include using the ShoCard ID, a QR Code, timestamps, session IDs, and “other certifications methods by which the user was verified, like selfie IDs and more”.

ShoCard claims this will allow easy authentication of ATM users irrespective of which particular banks they are customers of. Blockchain technology is used to verify ATM user identity without needing to obtain or access banks’ databases, thereby also protecting user privacy.

Apart from rendering PIN codes obsolete, AU and ShoCard believe that blockchain biometrics employed in ATMs will resolve incidence of card fraud, or seeing cloned cards surface for sale on the dark web.

ShoCard founder and CEO Armin Ebrahimi explained that blockchain-based biometrics “fits nicely into existing ATM technology, which usually already has a camera installed, and makes the customer experience as seamless as possible. At the same time, it utilizes blockchain technology to protect individuals’ identity while confirming the information that banks need to verify that a withdrawal is legitimate”.

The ATM prototype is currently in testing phase and “likely to be rolled out in production soon”, said the press statement. No dates have been specified.