To provide a biometric identity verification system which improves accuracy and convenience without increasing cost and lowering processing speed.

Accuracy and speed of biometric identity verification are significantly improved by using multiple simultaneous scans of biometric features of a user, such as a plurality of fine fingerprints, using a plurality of scanners (40 and 50) of a smaller size than is needed to accommodate all of the fingerprints in a single scanner (30). Fingerprint data is more efficiently processed by using a plurality of parallel processors (42 and 52) or a single higher speed processor. Biometric data is obtained from the multiple user features by using the plurality of scanners so that verification accuracy is improved, but the increase of the cost and the reduction of the processing speed which are produced when accuracy is improved by using the single large scanner are not incurred.