The Spanish technology FacePhi has been in charge of developing this identity verification system, which prevents the use of passwords and allows pensioners to manage their finances in a simple and completely secure way
“The use of systems for accessing bank accounts is notably increasing among older users from different countries, who see this technology as a practical and friendly way to carry out the most common financial operations”, explains Javier Mira, CEO of FacePhi
Argentine legislation, which obliges retirees to go to banks to collect their pension to avoid fraud, has allowed this facial recognition system to replace this procedure and be considered as a valid user’s liveness test
Elderly people have found in biometric recognition an ally to safely carry out the most common banking procedures and inquiries. The most innovative example has been given by the Argentine bank Supervielle, one of the main entities in the country, which has become the spearhead of this technological adaptation, thanks to its mobile app for pensioners. An application that in just a few months has exceeded the figure of 150,000 users and has positioned itself as a reference in human banking, the model promoted by the company to make progress in digitization without losing sight of the proximity and humane treatment of customers.
The software of this application, developed by the Spanish technology company FacePhi, has made it possible to eliminate in full progress of COVID-19, the presence in the most common banking procedures for Argentine retirees, such as the monthly payment of the pension, which means traveling to the entity offices themselves for “proving life”. Thus, with this new system, in order to create a bank account, all you need is a photo of the identity document and a selfie of the user. In this way, once they are clients of the entity, they can easily log in and carry out different procedures such as confirming their right to a pension, checking the collection date, checking payment vouchers or validating a cash withdrawal from home.
“The use of biometric systems to access bank accounts is notably increasing among older users in different countries, many of them from Latin America, who see this technology as a practical and friendly way to carry out the most common financial operations”, explains Javier Mira, CEO of FacePhi. “The implementation of this digitization within the reach of all types of clients has a positive social impact, especially in the situation of COVID-19, in which it is advisable to prevent older people from going to closed spaces to do banking or administrative procedures. This trend will continue to progress, and it will not take long to establish itself in Spain as well”, highlights the manager.
The creation of this app also sets an important precedent in the fight against fraud for Latin American banks. Thanks to the security provided by the combination of facial recognition with electronic character reading, this system prevents identity theft, helping banks and public administrations in the fight against fraud and cybercrime.
“Biometric identification had already taken its first steps in Argentina, where pensioners may verify their identity through fingerprint recognition systems implanted in the banks themselves. However, the confinement situation and subsequent risk posed by the pandemic is driving the change to facial recognition authentication systems, fully contactless, and that can be integrated into almost any mobile phone with a camera on the market”, concludes Javier Mira.
