Hang Seng Bank deploys fintech to simplify mobile banking, mulls use of facial recognition at ATMs

Hang Seng Bank plans to expand the use of fintech to mobile banking services and is also toying with the idea of incorporating facial recognition, after initial success with iPhone X, to allow customers to withdraw cash from its ATMs across the city, according to its chief executive.

“As a community [oriented] bank with 3.4 million customers, Hang Seng Bank is very keen on developing fintech to capture the new generation of tech savvy banking customers,” Louisa Cheang Wai-wan told the South China Morning Post in an interview.

“Regarding facial recognition for ATMs, we are constantly reviewing our services based on different factors including market developments and related requirements.”

Since December, the bank’s customers have been able to use facial recognition built in the iPhone X to log on to its mobile banking platform, and its ATMs too are yet incorporate facial recognition.

Hong Kong lags behind the mainland in adopting facial recognition, which uses biometric authentication applications to identify an individual from a database of digital images. In China many sectors have been quick to adopt facial recognition technology to improve and speed up services – ranging from aircraft boarding passes to accessing offices and museums and even accessing banking services.