Bangladesh banks look at biometric verification options for illiterate clients
Bangladesh Bank this week said that scheduled banks should deploy biometric verification options – including fingerprint, iris and facial recognition – in order to better serve illiterate clients. The central bank issued the guidelines with a view to ensuring financial inclusion for all.
New Age report the guidelines said that: unless they are incapable of doing so, such account holders will have to be present at the bank branch for cash withdrawals; bank officials will have to help such individuals write cheques; signatures of the official and one witness will be on the cheque along with thumbprint of the account holder; the cheque must be written within the bank’s CCTV coverage area, and; banks are not to hand over money to anyone other than the account holder in such cases.
The Bangladesh Bank instructions also said that if the account holder is incapable of appearing at the bank and they ask for assistance, a bank officer would visit the account holder’s residence for writing the cheque and a member of the client’s family can withdraw the money from the cash counter.
In other news, The Daily Star is reporting that Veridos is set to win the contract to provide ePassports to Bangladesh. The cabinet committee on economic affairs recently approved a home ministry proposal for awarding the job.
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