HSBC uses face recognition to authenticate payments in China

Selfies are the latest way to pay — HSBC — “The customer simply blinks into their camera using the ‘selfie mode’. Their identity is then checked against a photo held on a database. If the pictures match, and the customer enters the correct passcode into their banking app, they can transfer up to RMB50,000 (about US$7,600) a day. Previously, they had to use a token device for authenticating and making transfers.”

One comment on this article

  1. There is certainly enough information in a face to recognize an individual. A lot ot that information is captured in a photo. That is why we put a photo on a passport and a drivers license and write “Ask 4 Foto ID” on our credit cards.

    That said the biometric reference for facial recognition in a banking system is not a simple “photo.” If it were, then the chances of defeating the mechanism with a photo would be very high. That is why Apple’s facial recognition system is so complex and works in three dimensions.

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