Compagnie des Machines Bull SA-owned Telesincro SA has been demonstrating those biometric payment terminals that it has been developing for several years, initially on behalf of the Banca Catalana SA (CI No 1,143). The company’s managing director, Mario Guerrero, claims that Telesincro is the only company in Spain to be producing biometric terminals, and according to an interview in PC Week, he thinks it might be the only one in Europe to manufacture such small systems. Biometric terminals are still a rare thing in that they use biological variables for identification. Authorisation may be based on fingerprints, temperature and colours, and because of their precision, they are regarded as ideal for applications like authorisation of point-of-sale transactions. Also, Telesincro plans to introduce a portable version for health care professionals and it also hopes to enter the switched supply and uninterruptable power supply market. The company is working on a personal identification project for Seville’s Expo ’92, and other plans include systems for Spanish prisons and the Parliament remember the remarkable and shocking scene when a crazed Fascist general gained unauthorised access to the chamber and started shooting as deputies scattered in all directions and hid under benches? Several new models will be launched sometime in the fourth quarter, the company says. Bull and Telesincro were talking of a $20m investment back in 1989, and Telesincro says it has pumped $5m into the manufacturing so far. That figure looks set to grow as Telesincro unveils new, smaller versions, designed to appeal, says Guerrero, to retail outlets that may want to connect the things to a telephone or to printers.
