GMAC® will start replacing the digital fingerprinting used now at its GMAT testing centers with a sensor that records the unique pattern formed by a person’s palm veins. The new technology is a more accurate, more efficient and less invasive way to ensure that each test taker has a single GMAT record, preventing people from taking the test for others.

The system, which will be demonstrated during the Council’s Annual Industry Conference in Chicago, June 19-21, is part of the ongoing GMAC efforts to make sure that the exam is a fair measure of each test taker’s ability. Confirming a test taker’s identity is key to maintaining the integrity of the GMAT.

Test takers in Korea and India will be the first to try  the palm vein system. They will participate in a 90-day pilot program starting in July and August at all testing centers in those countries. The technology will be rolled out in other countries, including the United States, throughout the fall and in 27 European countries in early winter.

During 2009, the sensors are expected to be in place at GMAT testing centers worldwide. GMAC will comply with all applicable laws  in the nearly one hundred countries where the exam is offered.

How it works

The PalmSecure sensor, made by Fujitsu, scans the vein patterns of a person’s palm. The new technology is easier to use and less intrusive than current fingerprinting identification: Each user simply holds his or her palm a few inches above the two-inch-square sensor for several seconds. Because the blood veins in the palm stay in the same position as people age and through sickness or injury, the pattern record remains unique to each individual.

The digital system is highly accurate. In tests on 140,000 individual palm vein patterns taken from 70,000 people, the PalmSecure device was found to be 99.99 percent accurate, with a false acceptance rate―the likelihood it recorded one person’s palm as someone else’s―of less than 0.00008 percent.

Palm vein recognition systems protect access to highly sensitive information and have been adopted by hospitals in the United States and automated teller machines in Japan. Because the palm vein patterns are protected with encryption specific to a user’s system, they provide an extra layer of privacy and assurance that the patterns cannot be used for identification by anyone else in any other context.

Testing center procedures

Each test taker will still be required to bring a valid photo ID to the testing center and have a photograph taken. First-time test takers will have both palms scanned. Those retaking the exam with a fingerprint on file will provide a matching print as well as palm scans. The GMAT admission process also requires candidates to sign a digital signature pad.

In adapting the PalmSecure sensor at more than 400 testing centers worldwide, GMAC strengthens its position as the industry leader in test security.