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An important milestone for the financial world - the biometric method for customer identification

8 November 2021
An important milestone for the financial world - the biometric method for customer identification

The Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) has amended the Online Identification Regulation (Online-IDV). As of 2 November 2021, credit and financial institutions as well as virtual currency service providers may identify new customers remotely using purely biometric procedures.

Biometric identification procedures are procedures for online identification in which the entire online identification or individual steps thereof are carried out without the involvement of an employee as part of an automated electronic procedure. This was done in response to a long-standing demand from financial service providers.

Prior to this amendment, the parties involved in the identification process had to be visually perceptible during the video-assisted verification of identity. In addition, simultaneous voice contact had to be possible. In other words, an employee of the financial service provider and the new customer had to be present and able to speak to each other at the same time during the video identification process.

Now, the identification of new customers can be done solely algorithmically, so that the presence of an employee of the financial service provider is no longer required.

Requirements for the admissibility of the biometric procedure:

  • The customer must consent.
  • The biometric identification procedure must in any case correspond to the current state of the art.
  • It must be updated as required.
  • It must achieve a security level similar to that of identification by employees.
  • In addition, video must be used to verify that the person is actually physically participating in the identification process at the terminal.
  • As of 1 January 2023, the photo ID must also be checked by reading the electronic security chip.

This amendment is very welcomed in the financial world. The calls have become louder and louder for digital solutions for customer identification based on artificial intelligence to offer equivalent security to identification by personal presentation of the photo ID.

* * *Mag.a Leyla Farahmandnia

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