China’s banks introduce face recognition system

Almaty. September 21. Silkroadnews – China’s banks introduce face recognition system, China Daily reported.
“At the Agricultural Bank of China’s (ABC) three outlets in Jinan city, cards are no longer needed to withdraw money. A quick scan of the face will do,” the report says.
Other banks, such as the China Merchants Bank and the Construction Bank of China, have also introduced similar technology in their automated teller machines (ATMs), publication reads.
“All you have to do is to press the facial recognition withdrawal button, scan your face in the camera, enter your phone number or ID number, and enter your transaction amount and password,” the agency quoted Zhang Baojing, banking manager at ABC, saying.
According to Zhang, the technology can eliminate the risk of illegal copying of bank cards and reduce the possibility of ATMs eating cards, which can contribute to improving the customer experience.
With this ABC staff believes the face recognition is safe, because it also requires identification numbers, phone numbers and passwords. In addition, photos of customers will be compared with photos in the public safety system.
“The ABC limits the daily withdrawal to 3,000 yuan ($457) via the technology. The bank plans to install the facial recognition technology at 24,064 outlets across the country, according to web portal Sohu.com,” the report says.
The ABC is not the first bank in China to introduce face recognition technology. In 2015, China Merchants Bank began to use technology in Shenzhen. Last year, the technology was applied for about 1000 ATMs in 106 cities.
Among the minuses in using the new technology there are high maintenance costs and difficulties that senior citizens may run into while getting used to the new system.