A system and method for efficiently performing a pattern matching procedure includes an enrollment manager that performs an image conversion procedure for converting an initial reference image into a reference template. The image conversion procedure may include at least one of a binarization procedure and a symmetrical reduction procedure to more efficiently utilize system resources such as processing requirements and memory requirements. A verification manager may then convert an initial test image into a transformed test image for combining with the foregoing reference template to produce a correlation image. The verification manager then analyzes matching characteristics of the correlation image to determine whether the initial test image matches the initial reference image.