Disruptive tech use cases leveraging biometric authentication technologies
As covid-19 seems to be here to stay, service providers are striving to adapt to this new normal so that their customers can keep using their services while limiting face-to-face interactions, preventing any risk of virus transmission. In this regard, biometric authentication technologies can enhance security when accessing to offline services, leading to the development of new business models. Here are 3 disruptive use cases leveraging biometric authentication solutions.
Emergence of unmanned convenience stores
The era of unmanned stores is just around the corner. With the rising adoption of non-face-to-face services, the emergence of the tech-savvy MZ generation (a term often used in Korea combining Millennials and Generation Z) in the active population, and the impact of rising labor costs, unmanned stores are becoming increasingly popular in Korea. From home appliance to telecommunication stores, unmanned stores start to be deployed in a variety of sector.
An unmanned store is a retail concept in which there are no service personnel and no cashiers in the store. In Korea, the number of unmanned stores, and in particular, unmanned convenience stores is growing significantly. There are currently about 620 unmanned convenience stores managed by three major franchises in Korea.
The picture above shows a customer in one of these unmanned convenience stores that has recently been opened in Songdo. When the customer shows his face in front of the device located at the entrance of a convenience store, the door opens automatically. Then, he can pick up a product installed in the store and comes out. The weight of the product selected by the customer is automatically measured and the payment process is facilitated as it is connected to the data collected by about 30 AI-based cameras installed in the store. This type of convenience stores paves the way for the future of offline shopping where customers could purchase products without taking out their credit card from their wallet or their smartphone.
The concept of unmanned stores usually relies on smartphone-related technologies to enable customers to access the store through smartphone-based authentication or facial recognition and to allow them to pay directly at the self-checkout counter. For example, an unmanned convenience store in Korea has implemented the entire process from store entrance to automatic payment. Using the app related to the store, customers can access the store through facial recognition and proceed to payment automatically. Another unmanned store features a technology enabling clients to pay by vein recognition.
Due to the nature of most convenience stores that operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, unmanned stores provide a new means for optimizing the business operations by minimizing manpower operation at night when there are not many customer visits. Thus, the application of such smart technology is a way to reduce simple labor for employees and maximize manpower efficiency.
Source: https://news.mt.co.kr/mtview.php?no=2021062815164354170
A Korean bank to introduce ‘Face Bank’ in the second half of the year
A major Korean bank will introduce a solution that leverages an AI-based facial recognition technology to allow its customer to use services from the bank without having to show ID cards, bank accounts or cards.
The bank plans to start developing the related solution with the aim of distributing it to its branches during the second half of this year. The decision to deploy the AI-based facial recognition technology has been taken after verifying the reliability of the technology.
In particular, during the first half of this year, the bank verified whether the AI facial recognition solution could be used as a means of identification at its branches. As a result, the accuracy was deemed high enough to enable to perform the front desk work only with facial recognition without requiring clients to bring their ID or passbook.
Unlike iris or vein recognition, the fact that facial recognition was selected as it does not require a separate device to be performed since the bank plans to apply the facial recognition solution to its existing tablet PC used in its branches, lowering the introduction cost burden.
The bank plans to apply for the innovative financial services to the Financial Services Commission, which should enhance the adoption of means enabling to perform financial transactions without ID cards. With the adoption of facial recognition to identify its customers, the bank is laying the groundwork for a more convenient user experience.
Source: https://www.etnews.com/20210630000228
Access to banking services with vein recognition
In the ‘untact era’, banks are developing new solutions for limiting face-to-face interaction between their clients and their employees. In this regard, a Korean bank has developed a solution enabling its customers to open a bank account after meeting their bank clerk via a video. The latter can authenticate the customer through a vein recognition device.
In particular, in this use case, the bank has created a physical space where customer can ask for banking services through a digital desk. An employee at the headquarters who is connected to this digital desk by video can provide banking services. Digital desks are equipped with a video monitor, a keypad enabling users to enter their credentials, a palm vein recognition device for the authentication of the client, and an ID card scanner.
This solution enables the employee to provide banking services by displaying images of products on a large monitor, offering a similar experience than an in-person visit to the counter. When inquiring the creation of a bank account, the employee requests client to place his/her ID card in the ID scanner in order to verify his/her identity. Customers can also receive financial counseling after confirming their identity with a palm vein recognition device and the ID card scanner.
The bank plans to implement digital desks in 11 branches. The digital desk can handle by video tasks such as (1) deposit, installment savings, opening and termination of cash accounts (2) opening and termination of IRP (3) issuance and reissuance of cards. More complex services such as mortgage loan cannot be provided at the digital desk and require a visit at the front desk. The consulting staff at the digital desk belongs to the digital sales department at the head office. There are a total of six employees in charge of counseling, who serve about 20 customers a day via video.
Source: https://www.etoday.co.kr/news/view/2038375
Our View: the adoption of biometric authentication technologies is growing significantly in Korea, helping companies from various sectors to adapt to the new normal. Looking at the use cases above, the financial sector seems particularly active in the deployment of such solutions. Enhancing convenience when accessing basic banking services, these technologies also provide a solution for persons feeling uncomfortable meeting the bank clerk in-person as it allows them to experience a similar experience than a visit at the counter. Not only financial institutions but also retail industry is leveraging biometric authentication means when building unmanned stores, a new way to shop offline. These three use cases share a common attribute: none of them use fingerprint authentication. Instead, facial and palm vein recognition solutions are leveraged. In other words, it seems that we are reaching a new step in biometric adoption as these means of authentication are now being increasingly considered in services that require high level of assurance in authentication. Being deployed in sensitive industry such as financial institutions should facilitate a wider adoption of these biometric authentication technologies in further areas in the near future.
