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OCBC Bank Rolls Out Face Verification for ATM Banking Transactions

OCBC Bank has introduced the use of facial biometrics for ATM services, eliminating the need to carry around an ATM card.

The bank claims to be the first in Southeast Asia to enable the use of face verification on its ATM for account balance enquiries, which will be first rolled out on eight ATMs around Singapore.

OCBC will then extend face verification for cash withdrawals to all OCBC ATMs in Singapore progressively.

This latest move comes after the bank’s rollout of QR code cash withdrawals in July 2019.

OCBC said that 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.

Thus, OCBC Bank taps into Singapore’s National Digital Identity infrastructure, SingPass Face Verification, to securely verify customers for banking transactions at ATMs without the need for ATM cards.

A customer’s scanned face is matched and verified against Singapore’s national biometric database containing the images and identities of 4 million Singapore residents.

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.

OCBC Bank had also leveraged the National Digital Identity infrastructure in July 2020 to introduce an alternative digital login using customers’ SingPass to access digital banking services.

Sunny Quek

Sunny Quek, OCBC Bank’s Head of Consumer Financial Services Singapore, said,

“Singapore consumers are keen digital adopters – even the elderly. While cash is still a key mode of payment in Singapore, the digital overlay to get cash is very welcomed by consumers. Overall, digital adoption within OCBC has grown year-on-year in 2020 with more than 40% more customers signed up on PayNow, and PayNow transactions doubling, compared to 2019.

QR code cash withdrawals at ATMs grew 88% 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.”