CaixaBank releases facial recognition capabilities at select ATMs

CaixaBank has launched facial recognition technology at ATMs, removing the need to insert PINs, becoming the first bank in Spain to offer this.

The new system is available to customers at four of the store branches in Barcelona. Rapid expansion across its stores is expected to commence in H2 2019.

Decisions to implement this technology were made in a bid to provide consumers with improved security for transactions, by easing customer identification and removing passwords. Before developing the solution, the bank conducted a study amongst its customers and found 70 per cent of respondents were happy to use facial recognition as an alternative for PINs.

Reasons highlighted for this was heightened security, which was stated by 66 per cent of participants, convenience and speed were also mentioned by 19 and 15 per cent of respondents, respectively.

The system, which was developed alongside Fujitsu and FacePhi, captures an image through the ATM camera and validates up to 16,000 points of the photo of the user’s face. Options on these terminals still let users enter PINs for access.

Any customer of CaixaBank is able to use the facial recognition ATMs, once they have registered themselves at their branch.

Benjamí Puigdevall, head of CaixaBank digital business, said, “In the current financial context of digital transformation, security and agility are key in transactions, and the incorporation of biometric technology at ATMs offers multiple benefits in these two areas. This commitment to facial recognition strengthens CaixaBank’s position among the companies with the most advanced ATMs around the world.”

The bank is continuing to support biometric technology. In 2017, CaixaBank released Face ID with its mobile app letting consumers access their banking accounts on mobiles through a face scan.

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