Equity Bank to Start Collecting Customers Fingerprints to Curb Fraud Cases

Banks in Kenya lose an estimated Sh1.6 billion annually as their customers fall prey to fraudsters who take advantage of the banks security loopholes. However this figure is estimated to be much much higher once factoring in cases involving the banks’ employees which in most cases are not reported to press as the banks aim to protect their reputation.

With the older generation credit and debit cards, fraudsters were able to take advantage of the loopholes to steal money. But now with the introduction of the chip and pin cards, such instances are expected to reduce drastically.
However still with banks still using ID cards, passports and signatures as ways to identify their customers, there’s still that risk that the banker can’t really know for sure who is conducting the transaction. After all people get old and their looks change and it’s also really hard for signatures to be consistent 100 percent of the time.
That is why Equity Bank has plans underway to start collecting its customers’ fingerprints with the aim of introducing biometric technology to curve out fraud.
“We are collecting data of both new and existing customers till we have enough numbers to roll out,” said an officer at the bank who declined to be quoted because he is not authorized to speak to the media. (Business Daily)
The introduction of the new technology is also expected to decreasing the time of transactions as tellers will be able to quickly confirm the identities of customers.
The debate on whether to introduce biometric data to the banking sector has been going on for a while and though there still isn’t any legislation on the matter, Equity have gone on to implement the technology.
Earlier this year the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) directed all bankers in the country to introduce the chip and pin technology. The CBK warned those who hadn’t that they would be held liable in case of fraud cases with their customers.
Therefore with the introduction of the biometric technology, this may be Equity’s way of staying ahead of the curb.