Thai banks to secure bank services with palm and facial biometrics as national ID gateway opens

Banks in Thailand are planning to offer biometric security for financial services including payments, loans, and electronic know your customer (e-KYC) processes for new account opening, the Bangkok Post reports.

Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) is launching contactless palm vein recognition for customer identification and payment authentication, according to the bank’s Executive Vice President for Payment Product Solutions and Management Functions Srihanath Lamsam. The bank is testing the technology in its own sandbox before an expected official roll-out, with installations to payment terminals, later this year. The central bank has not yet granted the required permission to operationalize the technology, but did approve the use of fingerprint and facial biometrics for account openings last month.

“Payment technology via palm vein does not require cash, plastic cards or a mobile banking app — only a hand,” explains Srihanath.

SCB plans to initially roll out the biometric technology to its partner The Mall Group for supermarket payments, as well as SCB’s banking agent partner, 7-Eleven convenience stores.

Bank of Ayudhya (BAY) is also planning to expand facial recognition, which it already offers for opening new deposit accounts[https://www.biometricupdate.com/201903/krungsri-first-bank-in-thailand-to-deploy-facial-recognition-for-ekyc-checks], to payments, lending, and withdrawals for the next stage of its biometric adoption. BAY Head of Digital Banking Thakorn Piyapan says the new services will gradually be implemented last year.

The bank is expected to launch biometric e-KYC for new account onboarding in the fourth quarter of 2019, and is aiming for 10 to 15 percent of new accounts coming through the biometric capabilities of its mobile banking app.

National ID gateway ready for launch

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) has completed development of a digital gateway for banks to onboard customers with facial biometrics by connecting to the National Digital ID Platform (NDID), The Paypers reports.

Thailand launched its decentralized NDID system earlier this year following limited pilots with banks.

The NDID enables remote authentication and customer verification for government and financial services through facial recognition and blockchain records. The new gateway is developed by FinNet Innovation Network, and is meant to reduce the costs associated with accessing the NDID. That, in turn, will facilitate faster adoption of the NDID by financial companies, allowing them to avoid IT setup costs, duplication of back-office investments, and reduce time to market.

So far 50 companies have signed up to use the gateway, according to the SET.

Article Topics

banking  |  biometrics  |  identity verification  |  KYC  |  national ID  |  palm biometrics  |  palm vein authentication  |  Thailand