Palm vein recognition works by scanning the veins inside of your hand and creating a digital template that represents your vein pattern.

To use the system, you hold your hand a few inches above a sensor, which records the pattern of your palm veins on a digital template. Palm vein patterns are unique to each individual — even identical twins have different patterns.

The palm vein pattern readers are being rolled out at select GMAT® testing centers starting in July 2008. The technology will be rolled out in other centers including most in 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. The GMAT exam is administered at more than 400 Pearson VUE testing centers around the world.

GMAC is using palm vein recognition because it offers a form of positive identification that is highly accurate, and less intrusive and more culturally acceptable than some other identity verification technologies, such as digital fingerprinting.

Palm vein recognition allows GMAC to accurately identify people trying to take the test under assumed identities. By preventing impersonators, the technology helps GMAC maintain the test’s integrity and ensure the test is an honest measure of each examinee’s ability.

You will have your palm vein patterns recorded when you arrive at the testing center to enroll for the GMAT exam. Your pattern will be matched when you return to the testing room after a break. Your palm vein patterns will also be compared with those of other test takers to allow Pearson VUE to find people who may have tested under multiple names or identities. 

Several aspects of palm vein recognition make it more reliable and easier to use than fingerprinting. Palm vein patterns are invisible and virtually impossible to forge, making the system highly secure. The digitally encrypted palm vein patterns cannot be read by any other system. The test taker does not touch the palm vein sensor, eliminating the possibility of smudging. The system is also much more accessible for people with some physical disabilities.

Fujitsu, makers of the PalmSecure device, tested the system on 140,000 palm vein patterns from 70,000 people and found the false acceptance rate (i.e., the likelihood it recorded one person’s palm as someone else’s) was less than 0.00008 percent. Because the blood veins in your palm stay in the same position as you age and through sickness and injury, their pattern record remains unique to you.

No. The check-in time for test takers with no fingerprint on file, including all first-time examinees, should be the same or shorter than it is now. As the palm vein system is phased in, return test takers who have been fingerprinted before should plan on an extra 15 to 30 seconds for check-in.

For first-time test takers, palm vein patterns will be taken instead of fingerprints. If you have had your digital fingerprint captured at a previous GMAT sitting, you will provide a fingerprint match and then enroll in the palm vein recognition system. Should you retake the test after you have a palm vein pattern template on file, you will use the palm vein system only. As palm vein templates are recorded for all those retaking the exam, digital fingerprints will no longer be captured.

You will still need to show a photo ID, have your photo taken at the test center, and provide a digital signature.

The pattern reader uses a safe, near-infrared light source, similar to a television remote. You never touch the sensor. 

Your privacy is protected in several ways. When the reader scans your palm, the information about the vein patterns is stored as a digital template. After you finish taking your exam, the template is sent via encrypted transmission with your test results to Pearson VUE. Your vein pattern template is stored separately from other information about you in the system. Your vein pattern template is not disclosed outside of GMAC and Pearson VUE, except as required to prevent illegal activity and detect fraud. While schools you have selected to receive your GMAT score may elect to receive a copy of your digital photograph with your test score, they do not receive your signature or your palm vein pattern template. 

For more information, see the GMAC® Privacy Policy.

If you do not provide a palm vein pattern, you will not be permitted to take the GMAT exam.

Hospitals, libraries, and financial institutions including banks are among other organizations that have successfully launched the new technology. GMAC is the first high-stakes testing organization to use palm vein recognition.

Find out more about palm vein pattern recognition.