With credit card skimming, identity fraud and other acts of financial subterfuge overrunning the UK, Parliament has been more proactive in monitoring wire transfers – but has done little to increase the security of online line and face-to-face banking.
HSBC decided to take preemptive measures of their own, taking steps to enact biometrics into their banking security protocol. Combining both Touch ID and voice recognition, the UK arm of North America’s larger banking institutions hopes to tighten down wire fraud and other financial skullduggeries depleting the already tumultuous European banking world.
How it will work
Using an algorithm that detects over 100 unique speech qualifiers, including pronunciation, cadence, speed and volume, HSBC will cut down on normal identification procedures which are easier to fake, and essentially give the customer both a much quicker — and much safer — banking experience.
The customer will be able to identify themselves via telephone and mobile app, with in-person transactions believed to require advanced fingerprinting technology. Regardless if the customer has a cold, laryngitis or speaks several languages, the biometric system will accurately detect if the user matches the account being accessed.
While customers will be able to opt-in on their own volition, government officials could mandate this identification process, rolling it out into other banks to help fight fraudulent activity. Last year alone, the UK’s National Fraud Authority estimated fraud cost UK consumers and businesses £52 billion. Reducing risk and decreasing fraud could mean lower lending rates, which could significantly stimulate the European economy heading into a few important Parliamentary votes this coming up summer, and year.
Once UK officials see the success rate of the biometric identification, Mexico, Japan, USA, France and Canada will follow.
Identity, the underlying issue
HSBC, in an effort to coordinate transparency with an acceptable customer experience, isn’t acting alone in the fight to minimize online, mobile and in-person identity problems. Baroness Shields, head of UK’s Internet and Security Ministry, has rolled out a new UK law to force age verification when accessing adult content, and it’s believed that gaming sites and propagators of secondary financial instruments, such as Bitcoin, may soon fall under a similar mandate.
HSBC’s roughly 15 million customers are expected to have access to this technology starting this summer. The company, with roughly $2.55B in assets, saw their stock end Friday’s trading at $32.18, down .10 from previous day’s NYSE activity.
