MAJOR retail banks in Singapore will progressively introduce Singpass Face Verification (SFV) over the next three months as part of the process for retail banking customers setting up digital tokens.
Through a face scan, customers’ identities will be verified against national records before their digital tokens can be activated for use.
“This makes it more difficult for a scammer to take over a customer’s digital token by setting it up on his own device using phished credentials such as an SMS, one-time passwords (OTPs) and/or bank card information,” said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) on Wednesday (Sep 18).
The use of SFV is the latest security measure that banks are implementing to protect customers from scams.
Earlier in July, MAS and ABS announced that major retail banks in Singapore will begin phasing out the use of OTPs for account login by digital token users.
Customers with activated digital tokens on their mobile devices will have to use the tokens for bank account logins via the browser or the mobile banking app.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
In addition, major retail banks have also progressively introduced the “money lock” feature, which lets customers set aside funds so they cannot be transferred digitally.
“These various measures will serve to step up our collective defence against scams,” said MAS and ABS.
Ong-Ang Ai Boon, director of ABS, said that SFV gives customers increased protection against unauthorised access to their bank accounts.
However, she cautioned that while banks continue to do their part to fight scams, “customers need to be vigilant themselves and practice good cyber hygiene”.
Over at UOB, Choo Wan Sim, head of UOB TMRW Digital, said the bank will be implementing SFV on the UOB TMRW app from October.
While Choo acknowledged that SFV “serves as an extra safeguard against unauthorised set up and access to customers’ digital token, and consequently their account(s) and funds”, she also advised customers to be aware that scam methods are constantly evolving and that these anti-scam measures are not foolproof.
