A system translates a first biometric template of a first type to enable comparison with a second biometric template of a second type. In one example, a canonical template structure to which the first and second biometric templates adhere may be identified and used to compare corresponding portions of the first and second biometric templates. In another example, types and associated formats of the first and second biometric templates may be identified to enable both to be translated to a general format that can then be compared. In still other examples, an identification system may use the first biometric template to determine an identity associated with first biometric data to either retrieve second stored biometric data associated with the identity of a same type as the second biometric template or verify that an account in an external system having a record storing the second biometric template is associated with the identity.