PNG, Australian and Kazakhstan banks make biometrics moves

Papua New Guinea’s digital identification system Digizen will provide a biometrics-based know your customer (KYC) tool for Women’s Micro Bank under specifications from the central bank, the Bank of Papua New Guinea.

Digizen has been providing digital IDs for the Pacific country’s residents, even those without a previous ID or mobile phone, under the supervision of the central bank. Microfinance institutions MiBank and Women’s Micro Bank, known also as Mama Bank, have been enrolling customers with a tablet collecting face and fingerprint biometrics while village chiefs confirmed their identities.

The pilot was conducted in the Sepik region through a regulatory sandbox hosted by the central bank, which has been examining whether the biometrics captured under the digital project can be used effectively for KYC purposes.

Mama Bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Digizen for the project designed to help rural women access digital identification and bank accounts, according to local news outlet Loop Pacific. The project is backed by the Asian Development Bank.

NAB introduces behavioral biometrics to fight scams

The National Australia Bank (NAB) is broadening its scam alert system, including the introduction of behavioral biometrics into its business banking digital platform, NAB Connect.

The decision to introduce more measures is based on Australians’ willingness to share more personal data and banking information to fight fraud, the bank says. Nearly half said they support their bank in sharing information about suspicious payments to prevent scams.

NAB also says that different demographics fight scams in different ways with digital identity becoming more accepted with higher age and income.

NAB is one of Australia’s banks that allows its customers to use ConnectID, a digital identity service that allows users to prove their identity online to merchants and other businesses.

Kazakhstan to mandate biometric identification for online loans

According to a new law regulating lending, Kazakhstan’s commercial banks will be required to conduct biometric identification of customers before issuing an online loan.

The regulation, proposed by the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM), is one of several measures designed to protect borrowers. Currently, online loan companies allow customers to obtain loans with just an SMS. The practice has led to fraud cases with perpetrators providing fake phone numbers, news outlet Kursiv reports.

The Kazakhstani Digital Ministry has previously proposed three-factor authentication for obtaining loans, including biometric identification, SMS authentication and an e-signature.

Article Topics

Australia  |  banking  |  biometrics  |  Digizen  |  fraud prevention  |  identity verification  |  Kazakhstan  |  KYC  |  Papua New Guinea