Safran/Morpho to provide biometric authentication to State Bank of India

During the official visit of French President, Francois Hollande to India, Morpho (Safran) through its Indian subsidiary Smart Chip, signed an agreement with the State Bank of India for the provision and maintenance of a biometric authentication solution. The agreement was signed yesterday in New Delhi by N Jambunathan, Chief GM, State Bank of India and Sanjeev Shriya, MD of Smart Chip, in the presence of French President Fransois Hollande and Jean-Paul Herteman, Chairman and CEO of Safran.

Under this agreement, Smart Chip will implement a biometric authentication solution comprising fingerprint sensors and biometric matching software to verify the State Bank of India's employee credentials before granting them access to the Core Banking System of the bank. This solution will enhance security of the entire banking infrastructure.The system will be implemented across State Bank of India and its Associate Banks to provide biometric verification in over 21,000 branches.

"We are happy to embrace Morpho's biometric technology. The users of our core banking system are extremely confident of the enhanced system security with the introduction of biometric authentication," stated N. Jambunathan, Chief GM, State Bank of India.

"We are pleased to be selected once again to deploy our world-class biometric technology in the Indian banking market," said Sanjeev Shriya, MD of Smart Chip. "With Morpho's strong local presence, heavy investments and foundational role in the Aadhaar project, we believe that we are contributing significantly to the large-scale adoption of biometrics for the Indian market."

In addition to its involvement in the Aadhaar project, Morpho is also a leading provider of biometric terminals, smart cards and SIM cards in India. Morpho has also deployed more than 500 explosives, narcotics and chemical detectors across India to protect people and property in some of the most challenging environments.