Thailand Telecom Regulator Developing Mobile Biometric Security App

Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission is working on a new mobile application that will enable users of mobile banking services to add biometric security to their login credentials, reports the Bangkok Post.

The announcement appears to be a response to a scandal in which a 28-year-old man was defrauded of almost a million baht, or about $28,835, when his mobile operator issued a SIM card to an impostor. The incident led to protests from the victim’s family, and appears to have prompted the NBTC to introduce improved security measures. (The victim was refunded by his bank and offered a new iPhone 6S with a year of service as recompense.)

While the announcement’s timing may have been a response to the incident, NBTC head Takorn Tantasith said the app had been in development for several months. The app will add fingerprint scan security to the mobile login process on a voluntary basis, and Tantasith suggested it would be compatible with all major mobile operating systems.

It’s a step shy of the mandatory biometric enrollment for mobile subscribers in other countries such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, where the projects represent a security measure. The NBTC is hoping to launch the mobile app by the end of the year, after public hearings on the matter.

Source: Bangkok Post

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August 22, 2016 – by Alex Perala