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SINGAPORE: Forgot to bring your OCBC ATM card? Soon you will be able to check your bank account balances or withdraw cash by scanning your face at the bank’s ATMs.
In an announcement Thursday (March 18), OCBC said it will enable face verification for bank transactions at its ATMs.
This implementation of facial biometrics for ATM services will begin with account balance inquiries at eight select ATMs beginning Friday.
They are located in:
– OCBC Tampines Center Two
– Taman Jurong Mall
– Great Eastern, Pickering Street
– OCBC Tampines Center One
– HDB Level 1 Hub
– 103 Yishun Ring Road
– OCBC Campus
– Geylang 7-Eleven Road
OCBC said it will extend face verification for cash withdrawals to all of its 550 ATMs in Singapore “progressively” from June.
It also has plans to do the same for other ATM transactions, including cash deposits, funds transfers to other banks, cash card reloads and credit card bill payments, starting next year.
READ: OCBC launches SingPass login access for its digital banking services
Despite the momentum in digital banking, OCBC said ATM usage remains high, with more than two million monthly cash withdrawals.
Account balance inquiries and cash withdrawals are the most popular ATM services, accounting for about eight out of 10 ATM transactions made by your customers.
Face verification will eliminate the need for customers to carry their ATM cards with them and is also a “safe alternative” to physical ATM cards, the bank said in its press release.
OCBC is leveraging SingPass Face Verification technology developed by local authorities to verify customers for bank transactions at their 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 then be asked to place their face within a frame on the screen, while a specially installed web-enabled camera will take a scan of their face.
This is then verified in real time with the national biometric database, which contains the facial images and identities of four million Singaporean residents.
Once the face scan is verified, customers will be able to proceed with their transaction at the ATM.
Security features are also in place to prevent fraud, such as life detection technology to detect and block the use of photos, videos or masks during the verification process, OCBC said.
In response to CNA’s query on whether removing the mask for face verification is in line with current COVID-19 guidelines, the bank said that a person’s identity must be verified in order to safely conduct a bank transaction.
“According to national guidelines for the use of masks, customers can remove their masks momentarily for the bank to determine their identities, as is done at our bank branches to verify the identity of a customer before conducting a transaction at our counters. of box. “Said Sunny Quek, director of consumer financial services for OCBC in Singapore.
READ: Singapore bank OCBC signals recovery as credit costs ease
This is not the first time the bank has leveraged the national digital identity infrastructure.
It did so last year when it allowed customers to use its SingPass to access digital banking services.
In six months, more than a million logins were made to the bank’s digital banking platforms using SingPass, instead of traditional PIN and access codes.
In July 2019, it also allowed customers to withdraw cash by scanning a QR code. Last year, the number of cash withdrawals with QR codes increased 88% over the same period last year.
Overall, the bank saw growth in digital adoption among its customers last year, with more than 40% more people signing up for PayNow. PayNow transactions also doubled compared to 2019.
“Consumers in Singapore are enthusiastic about digital technology … While cash remains a key mode of payment in Singapore, the digital overlay for cash is very well received by consumers,” said Mr. Quek.
“Since many customers are already embracing QR cash withdrawals without having to use an ATM card, face verification will add a layer of convenience to more customers as they access our banking touchpoints.”
