BIOMETRICS FOR

NON-PROFIT
SOLUTIONS FOR NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

BAYOMETRIC
MARCH 12, 2017

Written & Compiled By

Danny Thakkar
CEO & Co-Founder

99% of maternal deaths
occur due to lack of
proper health care.
Every year a staggering
1.5 million children die
of vaccine preventable
diseases in the
developing world.

WHO
World Health Organization.

INTRODUCTION
Fingerprint biometrics is an effective tool that
can be used by non-profit organizations to
guarantee secure and reliable access of aid and
protection to the needy people. Biometrics is a
digital innovation that can be used to improve
peoples lives significantly and help to make a
great social and economic change. Biometric
technologies are the perfect combination of
security and convenience that enable only
authorised users to access aid and welfare
services as well as prevent any unauthorised
access. It helps to eliminate fraud and reduces
errors in the identification and authentication
process.
Image: Ridge points in fingerprint matching
Fingerprint biometrics is the oldest and
probably the most well-known biometric
modality. This popularity can be attributed to
the widespread adoption of fingerprint
technology in various industries such as law
enforcement coupled with the availability of
various low-cost fingerprint solutions. The
process of fingerprint authentication has been
reliably automated and fingerprint readers are
now a common security feature in the newer
generation of mobile devices.
BIOMETRICS FOR NON-PROFIT
WHY IS BIOMETRICS NECESSARY IN THE
NON-PROFIT SECTOR?
The ability to accurately verify the identity of
clients is critical to the core responsibilities of
non-profit organizations. Any loophole in the
identity verification mechanism of clients can
mean duplicating of services, providing aid and
benefits to impostors and collecting of bad or
unreportable data that can negatively impact
future distribution of services.
Biometrics is the only solution that helps to
establish the correct identity of clients in real-
time and at the same time protects their
privacy and anonymity. Biometrics has a very
strong authentication mechanism as compared
to other traditional methods such as passwords
or identity cards. Biometric identifiers are based
on the unique physical or biological
characteristics of individuals such as
fingerprints, iris etc. Thus biometrics can be
used to strongly link a stored fingerprint
template to the actual person it represents.
Non-profit organizations recognize that absence
of official identity documentation acts as a
major hindrance to peoples access to basic
rights and healthcare services. This obstacle of
identification gap can be resolved with
fingerprint biometrics as it is very flexible
compared to other techniques such as identity
cards. Fingerprints are part of the individuals
body and will always be available with the
person wherever he or she goes. Thus
individuals can easily prove their identity using
fingerprints.
Bayometric sales@bayometric.com
1743 Park Avenue t. 877.917.3287 (USA)
San Jose, CA, 95126 t. 408.940.3955 (INT)

In under-developed and developing countries,
non-profit organizations have sustainable
development goals such as ending extreme
poverty and preventing new-born deaths. It is
extremely crucial for non-profit organizations to
measure who they have reached and more
importantly who they havent. A fingerprint
identification system helps the non-profit
organizations to overcome these challenges and
enables rapid identification of beneficiaries
regardless of whether they have access to a
formal ID.
WHAT ARE THE APPLICATIONS THAT CAN
BENEFIT FROM FINGERPRINT BIOMETRICS IN
THE NON-PROFIT SECTOR?
Many applications can benefit from the
implementation of fingerprint biometrics in the
non-profit sector as discussed below.
Distribution of Aid
Every year billions of dollars are lost by
developing countries due to corruption and
misdistribution of aid. A study conducted by the
World Bank reported that only 41% of grains
meant for the poor reached out its intended
beneficiaries as part of the Indian food
programs. It also estimated the loss in other
subsidies at 20% which costing almost $10
billion to the Indian government every year.
The reason for these losses and misdistribution
is because of the lack of proper identification
system for citizens. Until now, there was no
way to track citizens who lack identity
documentation such as birth certificate or social
security number. The adoption of fingerprint
identification systems at every point-of-
BIOMETRICS FOR NON-PROFIT
distribution will enable to link each claim for aid
to the beneficiary. It will help non-profit
organizations and the policy makers to fight
corruption and be rest assured that the aid
reaches its intended beneficiaries.
Maternal health
In developing countries, 99% of maternal
deaths occur due to lack of proper health care.
A vast majority of maternal deaths can be
prevented by providing timely care. Although a
minimum of four check-ups before birth is
recommended by the World Health
Organization, only 39% of all mothers actually
receive these visits.
The primary reasons for this low percentage are
the challenges in identification and
accountability. Due to the absence of
government identification cards, it is difficult to
account for the women who have already had a
check-up and track their record. Fingerprint
biometrics makes it extremely convenient for
these women to get their check-up as well as
for health workers who can facilitate their
duties better. Fingerprint biometrics is very
powerful as it helps to identify patients reliably
and find the right record instantly with the
simple tap of a finger. This will ensure that
every child and mother have access to proper
healthcare.
Education
In poor and marginalised communities, teacher
absenteeism stands as a major bottleneck in
delivering education to all. This can be resolved
to an extent by monitoring of attendance but
Bayometric sales@bayometric.com
1743 Park Avenue t. 877.917.3287 (USA)
San Jose, CA, 95126 t. 408.940.3955 (INT)

that takes up additional resources and time. A
research report by MIT found that monitoring
of attendance can reduce absenteeism by 20%
and boost graduation rates by almost 40%.
However, an effective attendance monitoring
system is needed. This system should be cost-
effective as well as eliminate any manual
reconciliation of attendance records.
Attendance tracking for teachers and students
can be improved significantly by adopting a
fingerprint system. The difference between
students learning and an empty classroom can
be a simple fingerprint swipe. Fingerprint
biometrics will ensure that all individuals have
access to education.
Data collection
The advancements in technology have
immensely helped the cause of mobile data
collection. Researchers and other non-profit
organizations are now able to gather critical
data on the front lines quickly and efficiently.
However, there is one factor that stops the
organizations from consistently linking
respondents over a period of time. The factor is
identification bottleneck which also reduces the
quality of data that is collected.
Biometrics can help overcome these
identification issues. A fingerprint system will
help bridge the identification gap and enable
robust and reliable data collection even in the
most far-flung communities. Even in areas such
as mountainous regions, mobile fingerprint
systems will enable to identify beneficiaries and
maintain consistent records.
BIOMETRICS FOR NON-PROFIT
Microfinance
In the developing world, microfinance has
made inroads into almost all corners. However,
the key industry challenge in the world of
microfinance is the screening of borrowers who
take multiple loans. Multiple borrowing is a
major issue and has driven the market
collapses that took place in Nicaragua, Bosnia
and Andhra Pradesh. Yale has performed
randomised control trials which show that the
adoption of biometrics can increase the
repayment rates among high-risk borrowers
from 44% to 85%. This is a significant
improvement that can bring down interest rates
and help microfinance institutions save millions
of dollars lost in bad loan cases.
Fingerprint system will help to track borrowers
with their unique biometric identifier and
provide a record of their loan history. Any loan
defaulter who comes subsequently can also be
tracked as his record will show up on a
fingerprint swipe.
Immunisations
It is a very well-known fact that immunisations
can decrease mortality rates and is a very
successful and cost-effective health intervention
method. But in the developing world it can be
extremely difficult to administer vaccinations to
all children due to identification challenges.
Every year a staggering 1.5 million children die
of vaccine preventable diseases in the
developing world. Moreover, 17% of the deaths
occur in children who are below 5 years old.
These numbers indicate the magnitude of the
challenges that occur due to lack of proper
Bayometric sales@bayometric.com
1743 Park Avenue t. 877.917.3287 (USA)
San Jose, CA, 95126 t. 408.940.3955 (INT)
 BIOMETRICS FOR NON-PROFIT

identification. A fingerprint system will help
resolve these identity issues and save the lives
of millions of children in the developing world.
A combination of fingerprint hardware and
software will help the non-profit organizations
to track the children receiving vaccination and
also have an account of their health records.
Thereafter, patients need to scan their
fingerprints every time they visit the centre for
their medicine dose. The fingerprint system
provides concrete evidence of every patient
visit and ensures that the medicine was given
under supervision. This has helped to achieve a
very high success rate among the patients.

EXAMPLES OF BIOMETRIC TECHNOLOGY

IMPLEMENTATION IN THE NON-PROFIT
SECTOR
Operation ASHA is a non-profit organization
that has adopted fingerprint technology for
reaching out to the poor residents in Indias
urban slums and villages that need treatment
for tuberculosis. Tuberculosis patients require
76 doses of medicines and the complete
treatment takes almost six months which
Image: eCompliance Biometric Tracking System -
makes it very challenging for patients, Operation ASHA
supervisors and health workers.
The successful adoption of fingerprint
technology by operation ASHA has propelled
the implementation of fingerprint technology
among patients in many other countries such as
Uganda, Peru and Dominican Republic.

Image: Biometrics to track Indias tuberculosis cases -

Voice of America

Operation ASHA has adopted fingerprint

biometrics to provide efficient healthcare
treatment to tuberculosis patients located in
disadvantaged areas. The patients fingerprints
and other essential details are registered in the Image: UNHCR staff demonstrates the biometrics data-
biometric system after the first diagnosis. gathering process for refugees

Bayometric sales@bayometric.com
1743 Park Avenue t. 877.917.3287 (USA)
San Jose, CA, 95126 t. 408.940.3955 (INT)

Another successful biometric implementation
was done by the United Nation High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in early
2013. The pilot program enrolled the biometric
data of more than 17,000 people and had their
identities verified at the Malawi Refugee Camp.
The success of the pilot program in Malawi
created confidence in the biometric program
and Thailand was chosen as the site for the
global roll-out. In June 2015, the UNHCR
completed biometric registration for nearly
110,000 Myanmar refugees in Thailands border
camps. This was indeed a blessing for many of
the refugees who had lost their identity
documents during the flight and would have
faced problems later in gaining access to aid
and protection.
ADVANTAGES OF FINGERPRINT TECHNOLOGY
IN NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
Fingerprint systems ensure a very high
accuracy rate and secure identification of
beneficiaries.
A simple fingerprint scan allows quick and easy
access to records. Health workers in the field
thus make better decisions as they now have
immediate and reliable access to crucial medical
information of patients.
Fingerprints are unique to each individual and
therefore eliminate de-duplication of records.
BIOMETRICS FOR NON-PROFIT
Fingerprint technology assures the privacy of
individuals as they do not convey any personal
information such as health status, race or
gender and can be reliably used instead of
names.
Increases program accountability as
beneficiaries need to scan their fingerprints for
every visit.
Accurate identification ensures that goods and
services are provided only to the intended
beneficiaries and impostors are refused.
The fingerprint identification of every
beneficiary helps to maintain data integrity by
producing transparent, accurate and compelling
data. Constituents and stakeholders can be
provided with reliable reports that help to
protect the interests of the non-profit
organization.
CONCLUSION
Fingerprint biometrics is a cost-effective
solution that can help non-profit organizations
to tackle its identity management challenges
and control the access to services and benefits.
Non-profit organizations will experience
improved operational efficiency due to the
savings of valuable volunteer and staff time.
Fingerprint technology enables non-profit
organizations to accurately identify beneficiaries
and refuse services to impostors thereby
eliminating any chances of fraud.
Bayometric sales@bayometric.com
1743 Park Avenue t. 877.917.3287 (USA)
San Jose, CA, 95126 t. 408.940.3955 (INT)
 BIOMETRICS FOR NON-PROFIT

AUTHOR

DANNY THAKKAR
CEO & Co-Founder
Danny Thakkar is the CEO and Co-Founder of Bayometric,
one of the leading biometric solution providers in the
world. He has been in the Biometric Industry for 10+
years and has extensive experience across public and
private sector verticals. Currently, he is chief evangelist for
Touch N Go.

Bayometric sales@bayometric.com
1743 Park Avenue t. 877.917.3287 (USA)
San Jose, CA, 95126 t. 408.940.3955 (INT)
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 2017 Bayometric LLC. All rights reserved. This white paper was written, designed, and
created by Bayometric. Information contained in this whitepaper is the copyright of Bayometric.
This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to others, and derivative works
that comment on or otherwise explain it or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied,
published, and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any kind, provided that the
above copyright notice and this section are included on all such copies and derivative works.
However, this document itself may not be modified in any way, including by removing the
copyright notice or references to Bayometric LLC, without the permission of the copyright owners.
This document and the information contained herein is provided on an "AS IS" basis and
Bayometric LLC disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including but not limited to any
warranty that the use of the information herein will not infringe any ownership rights or any
implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

REFERENCES
1. Biometric Fingerprint System to Enable Rapid and Accurate Identification of Beneficiaries
NCBI
2. Biometrics at the Frontiers: Assessing the Impact on Society European Commission
3. Nonprofit Uses Biometrics Technology to Monitor Indias Tuberculosis Cases Biometric
Update
4. Biometrics for Non-profit Organizations Iritech