KDDI and Hitachi trialing Blockchain settlement solution with Biometric ID

Building a biometric ID authentication base suitable for blockchains, contributing to the realization of cross-industry alliance

KDDI Corporation and Hitachi, Ltd. Have announced that they will be conducting a demonstration experiment of coupon settlement system combining blockchains and biometric ID authentication.  According to the release from Hitachi and KDDI the management of IDs and passwords for identity on Blockchain is of paramount importance especially when it comes to payments and trade.

Both Hitachi and KDDI are testing Blockchain and Biometric ID for coupon Settlement solution. As explained, “Hitachi will be using public type biometric authentication infrastructure based on personal identification installed on the environment of Hyperledger Fabric which is different than how traditional biometric authentication technology is used. PBI does not need to preserve biological information itself such as finger print and can authenticate using public key converted to data difficult to decode. Also, Hitachi’s proprietary technology, which cooperates with PBI and blockchains, enables automatic generation of electronic signature with characteristic data of biometric information with low risk of theft and leakage as a secret key.”

As a result, the user can authenticate himself by holding the finger registered on the authentication infrastructure, so it is not necessary to present the coupon at the store, and the coupon can be used even without the smartphone. Because we can settle payment by hand, we can shorten the processing procedure and time of using coupons as compared with the past, and expect the user’s convenience to be improved.

Both Hitachi and KDDI hope that by using Blockchain identity and Biometric technology they will improve and streamline customer experience when buying or using coupons from retail brands and stores.