Facial recognition for banking eKYC expands across South-East Asia

Several companies in the Asia-Pacific region have made announcements about biometrics initiatives, offerings, and awards for technology supporting financial services, as financial institutions seek to expand their customer bases while preventing fraud.

Indonesian AI vision company Nodeflux has unveiled a new biometric facial recognition solution for banks to perform eKYC verification processes as part of a presentation on face recognition applications for the financial services industry.

Nodeflux Chief Commercial Officer Ivan Tigana and Group Product Manager Richard Dhamardi gave a presentation titled: “Nodeflux Road to Accelerate: The Trend of Appropriating Face Recognition in the Financial Industry” at the company’s Jakarta headquarters.

“With VisionAlre, we present a new solution combining vision AI, input, and AI analytics, that has been applied in multiple researches and technological implementation conducted by Nodeflux for years. Alongside the development of our newest platform technology, VisionAIre Know-Your-Customer (KYC) improve the banking automatic verification in Indonesia” states Dharmadi.

The company cites Ernst & Young’s research suggesting eKYC can address bank problems with data accuracy and time efficiency, and that its document verification and biometric selfie offering can reduce verification processes from 18 minutes to just 1. Nodeflux recently appeared in the 25th spot on the NIST FRVT leaderboard for Verification.

Malaysian bank launches biometric eToken

Malaysia’s Hong Leong Bank (HLB) has launched a new eToken with built-in biometric facial recognition authentication technology that it says provides secure and seamless transaction capabilities for small to medium enterprises (SMEs), the Borneo Post reports.

The HL ConnectFirst eToken enables users to authenticate log-ins and approve payments on online banking platform ConnectFirst. It is planned for integration with the HL ConnectFirst mobile banking application to allow corporations and SMEs to confirm transactions with a single tap on a registered mobile device.

“Guided by our digital at the core strategy, we are committed in developing innovative solutions that are built around the needs and preferences of our customers, making sure that our products and services deliver secure, simple, seamless and straight-through customer experiences,” coments HLB CEO and Group Managing Director Domenic Fuda.

“Facial recognition technology has evolved to levels that can provide high accuracy, agility and above all safety to be used in a wide variety of applications. The new HL ConnectFirst eToken exemplifies just that and embodies our pledge to remain steadfast in becoming a valuable partner to our corporate and SMEs customers.”

“The introduction of facial recognition eToken is based on our understanding and insights on customers’ pain points when using a physical dongle and conventional passwords, which can be misplaced or forgotten,” says HLB Business Corporate Banking managing director Yow Kuan Tuck. “With HL ConnectFirst eToken, your smartphone is now your eToken with biometric authentication that provides enhanced cybersecurity on a personal and enterprise levels, enabling you to transact and manage your accounts efficiently, anytime, anywhere,”

Cardzone partners with university to develop biometric eKYC technology

International University Perak (QIU) and payment solutions provider Cardzone Sdn Bhd have reached an agreement to jointly develop a biometric facial recognition and document verification program for eKYC processes, Malaysian outlet the Sun Daily reports.

The proposed technique involves a video selfie and document authentication system, and is expected to increase productivity and efficiency while improving customer experience, according to the report.

“Most of our financial institution customers have also embarked on their digital transformation journey with the aim of providing friction-less and excellent digital experience to their end customers. For these financial institutions, our collaboration addresses these issues head-on,” says Cardzone CEO Danny Lo.

Cardzone originally partnered with QIU to conduct research on data mining and machine learning techniques to detect fraudulent credit card transactions.

Thai mobile-only bank recognized for biometric innovation

Mobile-only bank TMRW has been recognized for its digital banking innovation with an award for achievement in biometric authentication, among five awards it has picked up in the past six months, according to a company announcement.

TMRW by United Overseas Bank (UOB) is the first mobile-only bank in the ASEAN region, according to the announcement, and was reportedly the first in Thailand to offer fingerprint authentication, allowing customers to open bank accounts without visiting a branch.

The company won Best Biometrics Initiative from The Asian Banker in May, Best Digital Bank from AsiaMoney in July, and Best Bank for Millennials, Best Customer Centric Business Model and Outstanding Client On-boarding and Account Opening by The Digital Banker in September.

“TMRW rethinks traditional banking models to make banking simpler, smarter and safer for our customers — especially the young and the mobile-savvy,” comments UOB Managing Director and Country Head of Personal Financial Services Yuttachai Teyarachakul. “We appreciate the recognition by the industry and are committed to continuing our efforts to provide a simpler, more transparent and more engaging experience for our customers through the use of data and customer feedback.”

Article Topics

authentication  |  banking  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  fraud prevention  |  Indonesia  |  KYC  |  Malaysia  |  Nodeflux  |  Southeast Asia