News

Authorities deny report of facial ID mandate for Hong Kong ATMs

June 2, 2017

In early May, the government of Macau announced that ATMs in the territory must be equipped with facial recognition and ID-reading technology.

Several weeks later a report by the South China Morning Post indicated that Hong Kong will follow suit, saying that "banks in Hong Kong will almost certainly have to replace all 3,250 ATM machines in the city with new cash dispensers equipped with facial recognition technology … "

However, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has now issued a statement saying that no such plan is in the works. It reads in part:

In response to media enquiries on face scan application in ATMs as reported by a local English newspaper, the HKMA has the following comments. ...

In our ongoing efforts to enhance the overall security of the banking system, we would explore the feasibility, robustness, costs and benefits of different technologies including, facial recognition, amongst other forms of biometrical authentications.

This also includes the technologies being employed by other jurisdictions. However, we do not have any plan to 'overhaul the ATM machines with face scan technology.'

The HKMA confirmed in the statement that it is participating in a fraud and money laundering intelligence task force formed to shut down the flight of capital from China and crack down on money laundering and other financial crimes.