Thailand's central bank is set to launch a test-use of biometric technology and has announced that ten institutions will participate.
The Bank of Thailand's assistant governor Siritida Panomwan told media that the electronic know your customer (eKYC) technology would be trialled as a way to ensure security and the electronic verification of customers.
However, the ten participating firms, which include commercial banks and non-bank financial institutions, have yet to complete the trial due to some unresolved technical glitches, said Panomwan.
"Hopefully, the BoT anticipates that participants will finish the biometric test run before the end of fourth quarter," she said. "The BoT still needs to roll out policies, regulations and criteria to ensure a smooth and problem-free operation before eKYC goes into effect."
"During phase 1 we will be focusing on using biometric technology to verify a customer's identity when opening a savings account," she added. "If the implementation is successful, banks and other financial institutions can adapt the technology to other aspects of their services without having to seek for BoT's permission to enter the sandbox project again."