The South African government and its banks are real trailblazers on identity assurance. What they're doing is a pretty big deal.
Following the introduction last week by the Department of Home Affairs and the SA Banking Risk Info Centre (Sabric) of its Home Affairs National Identification System (Hanis) to help combat identity theft, several banks said they had similar safety measures in place to safeguard customers.Earlier post:
Last week FNB announced that it had successfully tested and rolled out a biometric identification and verification system which allowed for online verification of customers through their fingerprints.
The chief executive of FNB’s Smart Solutions, Line Wiid, said the system used real-time fingerprint verification linked to Hanis.
“We continue to use innovative measures to make banking safe and convenient for our customers – in this instance, by reducing identity fraud. With the rise in identity theft it is crucial that we adopt measures that not only protect us as a bank but also protect our customers. Biometrics verification is one way to build trust with our customers,” said Wiid.
She said the bank had been piloting the biometric verification scheme since July. The system not only validated fingerprints against the bank’s own database but also against the national database held by the Home Affairs Department.
South Africa: Banks getting access to Government fingerprint verification system
