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SINGAPORE: The facial recognition technology that is enabled in ATMs can help speed up transactions and solve long-standing problems, such as the misuse of physical ATM cards, experts said.
But they also warned that the adoption of any new technology can bring its fair share of risks and that new safeguards will be needed.
OCBC, Singapore’s second-largest lender, said on Thursday (March 18) that it will enable face verification for bank transactions at its ATMs.
The new feature began Thursday, allowing customers to check account balances at eight select ATMs. It will be rolled out to cash withdrawals at OCBC’s 550 ATMs in Singapore “progressively” from June.
Starting next year, more services will be included, such as cash deposits, funds transfers to other banks, cash card recharges and credit card bill payments.
READ: Goodbye to ATM cards? OCBC will implement facial verification at ATMs
OCBC said it is the first lender in Southeast Asia to introduce facial biometrics to its ATMs.
He added that this also means it is one step closer to eliminating a physical ATM card, which can be stolen or stolen. The latter is the act of intercepting bank card details using a small device installed in ATMs.
ATMs NEED TO EVOLVE
Facial recognition, which works by scanning someone’s face and matching it to a database image, is already widely used for purposes such as unlocking smartphones.
Being part of the verification at the ubiquitous ATMs is also not new, as several Chinese banks introduced these services since 2015, according to local media reports.
CaixaBank de España has also been allowing customers to withdraw money from ATMs just by scanning their faces. It started with 20 ATMs in early 2019 before embarking on a nationwide rollout last June.
Singapore is “well positioned” to have facial recognition technology enabled ATMs due to the existence of a national biometric database and other factors, such as banks having their own risk management frameworks and strong law enforcement. said Jeffrey Kok, vice president of solutions engineers for Asia Pacific and Japan at CyberArk.
Singaporeans have also become more comfortable with biometric authentication methods, such as fingerprint and face recognition, which are becoming “the new normal,” said Kanv Pandit, CEO of Asia Banking Solutions Group Pacific in FIS.
“This is not surprising as consumers cement their preferences for a faster, more convenient and contactless experience when it comes to banking or payments, especially during the pandemic,” he added.
ATMs also need to be kept up to date. A recent FIS report found that cash remains one of the most popular payment methods for purchases in Singapore, accounting for more than a quarter of transactions in 2020.
Pandit said: “As long as cash continues to meet consumer needs, ATMs will remain a critical delivery channel in Singapore. Although they are not in danger of disappearing, ATMs must evolve to address challenges such as fraud, mainly skimming ”.
BETTER SAFETY
In addition to faster transactions, the key benefit of enabling face verification at ATMs is increased security as it eliminates the need for a physical ATM card and PIN.
This reduces the likelihood of unauthorized transactions due to stolen cards or hacked PINs, experts said.
“Biometric authentication, like fingerprint or facial recognition, relies on attributes of your identity that are much less likely to be compromised. This helps banks ensure that the authorized account holder is the one making the withdrawals, “Pandit said.
READ: Comment: Forget digital banks; many still prefer the trip to the branch
Echoing that, Mr. Kok noted that ATMs are “a great use case” for facial recognition and verification technology.
“Technology increases usability, convenience and takes a very modern approach to tackling an inherited problem,” he said, as it will be more difficult for scammers to “copy” someone’s identity.
“Face verification eliminates many avenues of attack and improves security while providing a better user experience for the end user,” he added.
NEW CONCERNS?
That said, new technology can create other risks, which means that new mitigation methods will be needed.
On the one hand, criminals are stepping up their efforts to manipulate and circumvent facial recognition systems by using “deep fakes,” which rely on artificial intelligence to alter a person’s image, Pandit said.
READ: Data privacy and security concerns as facial recognition becomes more common
Technology alone cannot be foolproof either.
“Studies have found cases where a facial recognition system cannot accurately distinguish between similar-looking faces, such as twins or siblings,” Pandit added.
Mr. Kok said that all biometric technologies have “precision settings that affect the probability of false positives and false negatives.”
“In the case of ATMs, the settings are most likely fine-tuned, which means a low number of false positives but a higher probability of false negatives.
“This means that legitimate users will have a higher chance of failing facial verification if there has been a significant alteration to their faces, for example facial surgery,” he added.
While these possibilities can affect consumer confidence, Kok noted that these “should not be concerns” as banks have always taken a multi-layered approach to managing risk, such as resorting to other verification methods such as credit notifications. mobile phones and existing surveillance methods implemented. at ATMs.
Banks have also generally taken a “gradual” approach to allow more banking options enabled by new technologies as consumer confidence increases, he added.
Pandit said banks can improve security by using two-factor authentication, which includes one-time passwords. They can also combat fraud through alert systems such as notifying customers by SMS when a transaction has been made.
WHAT THE BANKS ARE DOING
OCBC said it is leveraging SingPass Face Verification technology developed by local authorities to verify customers for bank transactions at its ATMs.
To enable face verification at an OCBC ATM, account holders will first select their preferred ATM service before entering their NRIC number on the screen.
They will be asked to place their faces within a frame on the screen. A web-enabled camera will scan and verify it against the facial images and identities of 4 million Singaporean residents stored in the national biometric database.
The verification is done in real time as the bank’s ATM network is digitally linked to the database, OCBC said in its press release. There are also other security features to prevent fraud, such as life detection technology to detect and block the use of photos, videos or skins during the verification process.
Only verified customers will be able to continue their ATM transactions.
DBS said its clients have also been using SingPass’s face verification feature to apply for digital bank accounts since July last year.
“This has proven popular as our retail clients can request access to Digibank in less than three minutes, while corporate clients can access their new corporate accounts online in about 20 minutes from the point of request,” said Shee Tse Koon, Managing Director of Singapore. .
To date, more than 25,000 customers have used SingPass Face Verification, and most of them use the feature to securely retrieve their Digibank user credentials.
DBS said it will continue to explore ways to expand the use of face verification and emerging technologies in its digital services and self-service machines.
READ: Face Verification Technology to Allow SingPass Holders to Enroll in DBS Digital Banking Services Using a Selfie
As for UOB, there are no plans to implement facial recognition in their ATMs at the moment.
“In the midst of the protracted pandemic, the safety of our customers is our priority. Using facial recognition at ATMs means that customers have to remove their mask in public to scan their face, ”said the bank’s head of group channels and digitization, Janet Young.
“We will continue to study the needs and preferences of our clients to provide them with a safe, reliable and relevant banking experience always.”
Ms. Young added that almost all of the bank’s ATMs have no contact at this time.
Customers can make cash withdrawals without a physical ATM card by adding their bank cards to their mobile phones and tapping their devices at ATMs before entering their PIN.
