Biometric access control cards: the extended benefits (Part Two)

Biometric access control cards use the distinctive personal features of a fingerprint to positively identify an authorised user. This removes the need for individuals to remember any password or PIN, thereby alleviating the stress of recall and saving security personnel bandwidth and support.

Biometric security controls have become widely used on smart phones and other mobile devices. In-use evidence strongly suggests that the individual user experience is smooth and trusted.

Since biometric data cannot be replicated, the loss or theft of a fingerprint access control card is less stressful for the authorised individual. The chance that any password or PIN will be observed or copied is removed. Any lost card is completely unusable without the fingerprint. On that basis, team members can rest assured that they will not inadvertently be responsible for a breach in the company’s access control system.

Biometric authentication through secure fingerprint access realises a strong additional security layer, allowing a card employed for physical access control to be used in parallel for passwordless or logical access control applications (for example, to access computer systems and data or for secure printing). This greatly assists individuals by enabling a single fingerprint-authenticated card to serve several purposes.

Protecting personal data

Businesses must ensure that their team members’ private and personal information is kept secure. As a leading biometric access card company, Freevolt Technologies is clear that any biometric access card solution must be designed to protect that information and keep it – quite literally – in the individual cardholder’s hand.

Using fingerprint technology, biometric access control cards can be simple and quick to authenticate. S-Key biometric access control cards do not require any personal data to be held by the business and never transfer any personal data from the card. Only an authentication confirmation is read by the card reader. If the card should be lost, even the fingerprint cannot be retrieved. Team members’ data cannot be stolen or abused.

Fingerprint security cards remove the need for individuals to touch equipment in order to enter a password or PIN. Simply placing their finger on their card, held close to the reader, is sufficient to either grant or deny access.

Since COVID-19 clearly demonstrated the hazards of contaminated surfaces, Freevolt Technologies is of the opinion that we owe it to our teams to help protect them from infection.

Sustainable solution

Freevolt Technologies is a biometric access card company with a difference: we go a step further by doing what we can to help the environment. Our innovative approach to secure access control cards is to minimise waste. Unlike other biometric access control cards, S-Key cards contain no battery.

Enhanced on-card security techniques such as biometrics are helping businesses to solve the problem of fraud and physical security breaches.

These new security features do require additional power. Batteries, of course, eventually run out, meaning that the card has to be replaced and materials including the battery safely discarded. Adding better batteries or other charging methods is not a sustainable solution.

Instead, S-Key uses Freevolt Technologies’ specialist technology to harvest power from nearby RF sources, such as access control card readers, in order to drive enhanced security measures. With no battery to change or recharge, each card has a smaller environmental footprint and a longer life.

Recycling service

To avoid more plastic ending up in landfill, Freevolt Technologies also offers a recycling service for S-Key cards. Customers can return their S-Key cards to the company free of charge for sustainable disposal, while those enrolled on the flexible plan will receive fresh S-Key replacement cards.

We know that biometric access control cards are effective in helping businesses to protect themselves against physical security breaches, but it’s clear that the S-Key secure fingerprint-activated access control cards also deliver personal benefits for individual end users and help to save the planet.

*For an evaluation card to trial Freevolt Technologies’ secure and sustainable access control system call +44 (0)203 176 2350 or e-mail info@freevolt.tech

**Read Part One of ‘Biometric access control cards: the extended benefits’ by visiting the Security Matters website