By amending the Online Identification Regulation (Online-IDV; Online-Identifikationsverordnung), the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) has created a possibility for the future application of purely biometrical processes for remote identification of new customers of financial services providers in accordance with anti-money laundering law. In such processes, customers are identified by exclusive use of algorithms, without any staff member of the financial services provider being in personal contact with them. The conditions for doing so are that the customer agrees to biometric identification and that the process corresponds to the technological state of the art and that a comparable level of security is guaranteed as to when the identification process is conducted by staff members and checked by video means that the person is actually physically taking part in the identification process. Furthermore, the photo identification document will also be checked from 1 January 2023 by reading the electronic security chip (NFC chip). Until then video-based proof of identity will also be permissible.
“During the process of digital transformation the use of identification process such as biometric identification process such as fingerprint, iris and facial recognition has become ever more significant. Such digital solutions for identification of customers use artificial intelligence-based electronic video systems, that are nowadays already able to demonstrate such a level of system security that they comparable to personal physical identification,” remarked the FMA’s Executive Board Members, Helmut Ettl und Eduard Müller: “Since the FMA generally pursues a technological-neutral approach to regulation and supervision, it was therefore particularly important for us, having already made remote video-based identification a possibility, to also permit biometric processes for use in the identification of new customers. We are open towards innovations and push for them, providing that in so doing there are no drawbacks in terms of regulatory and supervisory certainty.”
Journalists may address further enquiries to:
Klaus Grubelnik (FMA Media Spokesperson)
+43 / (0)1 / 24959-6006
+43 / (0) 676 / 88 249 516