Corporate Strategy & Business Planning BankIslami Pakistan Limited "A recent survey from Experian found that three in five people (61 percent) believe "biometric identification is either just as secure as or more secure than the current systems of passwords ."
It was as early as April 2006 that BankIslami Pakistan Limited ('BankIslami' or 'BIPL') became the first Bank to introduce biometric authentication in the Pakistan's Banking industry by installing ATMs enabled with biometric features.
This biometric feature was offered to customers to provide a combined advantage of security and convenience and also to give a great solution to customer password fatigue and PIN overload delivering a positive customer experience. This was considered important due to low literacy rates in Pakistan thereby opening banking sector to illiterate and unbanked individuals.
The Bank gradually worked towards more sophistication and in May 2013 it became the first Bank in Pakistan to introduce cardless ATM transactions for its customers using biometric authentication. BIPL customers do not need to carry their debit card for conducting any ATM transaction(s) as the customer's own thumbprint is effectively the card. It is also worth noting that BankIslami has the largest database of fingerprints outside NADRA and it is proprietary in nature.
As a customer-obsessed Company, BankIslami focused on technologies, systems, and processes that win, serve, and retain customers. On October 25, 2017, Bio Banking service was formally launched. This service had transformed the customer branch experience to a whole new level. It is a hassle free counter transaction solution in which customers use their thumb impression as their identity mark to carry out their required counter transactions without presenting cheques or any paper based forms such as cash withdrawal, fund transfer, pay order issuance, payment of utility bill and mobile top ups etc. Moreover, all these transactions are carried out under video surveillance to provide an additional security layer.
BankIslami is poised to take another step in biometric technology and has introduced a fingerprint biometric payment solution, Thumbpay. It is in the process of implementing this point of sale (POS) technology at various merchants. This system is an alternative to cash or credit cards use, at supermarkets, retail shops, restaurants etc. It identifies the customer and authorizes the deduction of funds from a bank account directly to the merchant on real time.
BankIslami's introduction of biometric technology in the Banking Industry has led to many positive impacts such as:
-- An unbanked illiterate person who can't read or write can now easily carry out banking transactions over the counter.
-- Fingerprints as biological characteristics offer unique and accurate identification method. This feature cannot be easily duplicated, therefore only authorized person can make transaction ensuring security.
-- It is an established fact through published research on handwriting kinematics that advanced age and illness effect the signature of the person. People with neurological diseases such as Parkinson patients even have difficulty in holding a pen. Bankers are urged to exercise caution while dealing with elderly account holders due to risk of purported forgeries on documents signed by them. This technology ensured security for both the Bank and customer.
BankIslami is well positioned to introduce more innovative fintech offerings for its Customers as it would lead to customer oriented data analytics helping Bank design better products. Authored by Ms. Ayesha Ashraf Jangda, Section Head, Corporate Strategy & Business Planning, BankIslami Pakistan Limited
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