Biometric recognition relies importantly on finger vein image recognition technology, which has been effectively implemented in many fields. Because veins are hidden beneath the surface of the skin, finger vein image recognition offers the unique advantage of resisting interference from external sources. This review paper is considered the most recent among its peers, as this paper is unique in discussing the details of research published between the years 2020 and 2023 in terms of the methods used in previous studies on the stages of pre-processing, feature extraction, and classification using machine learning methods and deep learning techniques. In addition, it explains the difficulties, advantages and disadvantages of this biometric technology.