Biometric data as a tool for expanding banking services
UBS Bank of Switzerland opens up new opportunities for its clients. Soon it will be possible to open an account remotely using a smartphone. For this, they plan to use biometric data and NFC.
Initially, the function will be available only to clients from Switzerland and people with a residence permit of the state but the bank intends to provide it to citizens of other countries in the future. At the opening of the account, it is necessary to identify the person, and for this purpose, UBS plans to use a contactless chip that is in the biometric passport. It is scanned via NFC on the phone.
The second step for confirmation will be the use of facial recognition, which requires taking selfies. In this way, clients will be able to open an account and use various banking products. In addition, they have the opportunity to create their electronic signature in the UBS application for mobile devices, which significantly expands the list of tools from the financial institution. Previously, in order to get an electronic signature, the client had to undergo an online video interview, which was time-consuming and required some organization of the process.
To open an account without having to go to a bank branch, UBS is using development from Regula in Latvia. This technology allows reading information from the RFID chip in a biometric passport through the NFC module, which almost all modern smartphones are equipped with. After reading the data this way, the Regula solution sends a request to a server, where cryptographic keys analyze the information on the chip and personal information for its authenticity. After that, it is necessary to take selfies so that the technology compares the data obtained with the image in the passport and the real person. This process does not take much time, just 5 minutes is enough for the client to open a bank account in the comfort of his own.
UBS is not the only bank using biometric technology to provide its services. Various stores are implementing such a system to pay for goods. For example, Polish retailer Komputronik began testing its technology for payment transactions using biometric data. When making a payment, a customer needs to look into a special eyePOS terminal. The system identifies a person by a combination of iris and facial features. To start using the technology for transactions, a network client needs to upload his biometric data to the application, which is available for iOS and Android mobile devices, and link his payment card to it. And afterward, purchases can be made simply by looking into the eyePOS terminal.
