Russian ATM can detect when users are lying

Moscow-based Sberbank has developed a banking machine that can tell when a patron is lying.

As more and more security measures are being brought in to make internet banking securer than ever before, it was only a matter of time before we saw similar precautions introduced at ATM machines. Now, Moscow-based Sberbank has developed a banking machine that can tell when a patron is lying. Designed to help combat consumer credit fraud, Sberbank’s new ATM features voice-analysis technology developed by the Speech Technology Center, a Russian firm that also serves the Russian Federal Security Service, according to a report in the New York Times. Credit card applications for brand-new customers can reportedly be handled through the device, which will ask — and analyze the veracity of answers to — questions including, “Are you employed?” and “At this moment, do you have any other outstanding loans?” As part of the application process, the ATM will also scan the applicant’s passport, record fingerprints and take a 3D scan for facial recognition. To comply with privacy laws, the bank will reportedly store customers’ voice prints on chips contained in their own credit cards rather than on its servers. Though the new ATM design is still in the prototype stages, Sberbank plans to install such machines in malls and bank branches around the country, the NYT reports. Financial institutions elsewhere in the world: time to think about introducing something similar? Spotted by: Gabriel Vanduinen