Banks in Singapore to verify customers identity with face scans

As a result, banks and healthcare institutions will be able to verify users’ identity by scanning their faces and checking the info against the national biometric database. For instance, banks can easily verify online customers carrying out high-risk transactions such as those involving cashier’s orders of more than USD 10,000.

The new system must have anti-spoofing technologies to detect someone wearing a 3D mask, or when a photograph or video is used. Also, it should be able to securely match scanned facial attributes against the Government’s massive biometric database, which contains the facial images and identities of four million local residents aged 15 years and above.

Currently, the uses of the national biometric database are limited to official purposes, such as verification at border checkpoints and in some government buildings to limit access rights. 10 vendors that have submitted bids to build and operate the national ID system are being evaluated by GovTech, which leads tech transformations in the public sector.