OCBC Bank announced today (March 18) the integration of facial biometrics for its ATM services as it moves towards eliminating the need to carry around an ATM card, which can be skimmed or stolen.
This makes it the first in Southeast Asia to enable face verification for ATM banking transactions. Previously, it was the first and only bank in Singapore to roll out QR code cash withdrawals in July 2019.
The first transaction which can be performed using face verification on its ATMs is account balance enquiries.
This will be rolled out to eight ATMs first: OCBC Tampines Centre One and Two, Taman Jurong Shopping Centre, Great Eastern at Pickering Street, HDB Hub Level 1, 103 Yishun Ring Road, OCBC Campus, and Geylang Road 7-Eleven.
According to the bank, account balance enquiries and cash withdrawals are the most used ATM services, making up close to 8 in 10 of all ATM transactions performed by its customers.
How Does It Work
OCBC Bank is the first to tap on Singapore’s National Digital Identity infrastructure, Singpass Face Verification, to securely verify customers for banking transactions at ATMs without the need for ATM cards.
To use face verification at an OCBC Bank ATM, customers can select the ATM service they want before entering their NRIC number on the ATM screen.
They will then be prompted to position their face within a frame on the screen, while a web-enabled camera takes a scan of their face and verifies in real time the scanned image against the national biometric database.
OCBC Bank’s ATM network is digitally linked to the national biometric database, which carries images and identities of four million Singapore residents.
Once the facial scan is verified, the customer can then proceed with their ATM transaction.
This convenient access to ATM banking services is a secure alternative to using physical ATM cards.
Face verification is embedded with security features to prevent fraud, including liveness-detection technology that detects and blocks the use of photographs, videos, or masks during the verification process.
Will Be Extended To Other ATM Transactions
Following the roll out of face verification for balance enquiries and cash withdrawals, it will be extended to other ATM transactions including cash deposits, funds transfers to other banks, cashcard top-ups and credit card bill payments from next year.
While OCBC Bank have seen a significant increase in digital banking adoption among its customers, it asserts that ATM usage remains high with more than two million cash withdrawals monthly.
Sunny Quek, OCBC Bank’s Head of Consumer Financial Services Singapore is confident that this service will gain traction among Singapore consumers as they are “keen digital adopters”.
“QR code cash withdrawals at ATMs grew 88 per cent year-on-year in 2020. With many customers 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,” he added.
Featured Image Credit: OCBC Bank
