BT and Hitachi Europe have partnered to design a new identity management application for the financial services market.

Under the partnership, BT is introducing BT Unified Trading federation, a cloud based trust utility for secure identity exchange which will incorporate Hitachi’s Finger Vein Authentication Engine and technology to offer biometric security capabilities.

The BT Unified Trading federation will be accessible by more than 15,000 member sites in the BT Radianz Cloud, facilitating the secure interchange of identities between financial firms, identity providers and service providers.

The BT application will use Hitachi’s Finger Vein Authentication Engine and technology to identify users, providing financial institutions with tangible user convenience, cost savings and productivity benefits, improved security, an automatic audit trail, and improved compliance.

The new application will provide financial institutions with single sign-on to cloud and enterprise applications and devices; identity and counterparty assurance for the market; rapid establishment of effective relationships and business-to-business processes through self; administration and management of identity; and collaboration across organisational boundaries, without compromise.

It also improves security by reducing ability for individuals to use login credentials from a firm they have left and addresses regulatory issues.

Hitachi’s Finger Vein System is expected to provide financial institutions with a secure anti-fraud technology.

Hitachi Europe managing director Akira Shimizu said," It provides assurance over the identity of those accessing privileged information and makes the connection between the individual and the credentials they hold."

The system uses infrared light to capture the unique pattern of veins in a person’s finger and then the pattern is stored as a template and used to verify the person’s identity on the next occasion they use the device.

The company said the system counterfeit proof, contactless, discreet and non-invasive combining the convenience of fingerprint with the accuracy of iris scanning.