One bank is testing a futuristic ATM that scans your eye before giving you cash

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Irving iris scanning ATM

Diebold

Diebold's Irving iris scanning ATM.

Diebold, a manufacturer of ATMs, is currently designing a terminal that will scan your iris to unlock access to your bank account.

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The terminal, dubbed Irving, will verify your identity by scanning your iris in just a couple of seconds, Dave Kuchenski, the head of Diebold's business development of innovation, told Tech Insider.

The company's technology is currently being tested by Citigroup, but Diebold is looking to see if other banks would be interested in utilizing the technology.

To utilize Irving, a customer would use their mobile banking app on their phone to enter the transaction they want to make. When the customer arrives at the terminal, it'll scan his/her iris to authenticate their identity, and then complete the transaction.

The customer could also approach the terminal and then enter their passcode into the machine prior to an iris scan to complete their transaction.

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"If someone were to steal my phone, they don't have my iris obivously, they dont have my authentication to get into my mobile banking app, so there's not much they could do," Kuchenski said.

Iris scanning is the second most reliable form of identification to DNA, Kuchenski said. Fingerprints are unique, but someone can easily steal that just by taking a cup you threw out at a coffee store. And the OPM hack that stole 5.6 million fingerprints from the US government may give people a reason to want more than one identification system.

Diebold Irving iris scanning ATM

Diebold

Retina scanning is not as secure because your retina actually changes over time, Kuchenski explained. Additionally, retina scanning is a bit more cumbersome - a customer must stand still as a light scans their eyeball, whereas for iris scanning the machine just takes a photo of your eye and matches it with the image on file.

The iris scanning process is actually so quick, most people who tested Irving weren't even aware it occured when they gained ATM access, Kuchenski said. Iris scanning also has a very low false negative rate.

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"False negatives tend to lead toward a bad consumer experience,"Kuchenski said. "If I'm standing near the terminal, and I know it's me and its saying it's not me, that's a frustrating experience."