Abstract: A system and method for verifying identity of a user seeking access to a secured area or object is provided. The system employs a novel global image comparison approach by first acquiring a reference fingerprint image from a user during an enrollment stage, obtaining a set of multiple reference segments from the reference image representative of unique portions thereof, and later during a verification stage obtaining a verification fingerprint image from a user seeking access to the secured area or object, determining the most likely positions for the multiple reference segments over the verify image, and then comparing all pixels of the reference image enclosed by the multiple reference segments to all pixels in a portion of the verify image overlaid by the multiple reference segments in their current positions over the verify image in accordance with a dynamically determined threshold that is individually tailored for the user providing the reference image during the enrollment stage.