Biometric debit card to encourage more banking in Vietnam

In a bid to provide banking services to those in Vietnam without the need for bank accounts, Temenos T24 was recently launched by the Mekong Development Bank. The bank released the very first fingerprint enabled debit card which it hopes will encourage more people to invest in banking services for personal and business use. The T24 is a modular upgrade by the bank and is a biometric fingerprint authentication system developed to be seamlessly incorporated into the financial institution.

Vietnam has a population of more than 86 million people and only 20 percent have bank accounts. The banking industry is keen on raising this percentage and one way to attract depositors is to demonstrate the convenience of using the debit cards to pay for bills and utilities.
Since its implementation in June, the bank has seen a rise in clientele with debit card accounts doubling in size and the total accounts base has tripled over the past month. The bank aims to make financial transactions convenient for those who live either in the rural or urban areas of the country.

Customers opening their account at Mekong Bank will have their fingerprints taken on that same day and can use their cards on any of its ATMs scattered across Vietnam. The Temenos system was successfully deployed by Mekong Development Bank in less than six months and was described as an easy “plug and play” procedure.

Mekong Bank was founded in 1992 but was re-launched in 2009 as a new and dynamic brand. Upgrading to a biometric technologies, Mekong Bank hopes to capture a larger part of the financial sector’s market share.

Is biometric authentication an enticing technology for first time bank depositors?

Article Topics

biometric cards  |  biometrics  |  financial services  |  fingerprint verification  |  fraud  |  identity proofing