Opening a Bank Account is as Easy as Scanning Your Face
Facial scans will be the new way of opening a bank account in Singapore. This service will be known as the SingPass Face Verification.
It is a new safe and secure online banking way that was launched on 30 July 2020. It was launched under the national facial identity service.
Users can rest easy knowing that this facial scan method is a safe and secure way of opening a bank account. The service will match your facial images against those in the Singapore Government’s biometric database. The database contains images of Singapore’s four million locals above the age of 15 years. If you are a Singaporean, your image was captured when you took pictures for your NRICs and passport.
Private sectors can now benefit from the SingPass Face Verification to verify all online transactions in a safe manner without having to build a separate system. DBS Bank is the first private sector business to pioneer this service. It is integrated into DBS’s digibank app.
Instead of keying in pin numbers at the ATM, users can now opt to scan their face. This even eliminates the need for keying in debit and credit card numbers too. To use this service, you will need the latest version of the bank’s app.
The Future
Soon, customers won’t have to upload pictures of their NRIC anymore. They don’t even need to be there in person to open a bank account. Simply scan your face remotely, wherever you are.
Singaporeans are already scanning their fingerprints of faces whenever they need to access government e-services through the SingPass Mobile App. Facial scans to open a bank account in Singapore is the next logical step. Moreover, this is going to make it much easier to detect any high-risk online transactions.
