Senior staff from Citibank have said banks in Asia must move towards different authentication methods instead of solutions such as PINs and SMS-based OTPs, particularly biometrics.Tony Chew, Citibank's global head of cybersecurity regulatory strategy, said Asian banks should start tapping biometrics to authenticate mobile users as they offer improved security and user assurance.Speaking at the EmTech Asia 2016 conference, Chew said most, if not all, banking apps available today “lacked imagination and creativity”, providing little beyond basic functions, reported ZDNET.He said it was “absurd” that banks still relied on passwords and PINs to manage user access, and that it was “ridiculous” that SMS-based OTPs (one-time passwords)–which he described as inconvenient–were used to authenticate transactions.Chew pointed to biometrics as the way forward, specifically, facial and voice recognition, particularly for payments.He said the technology's accuracy and robustness had improved significantly. “It is definitely superior and better than the [security] Q&A [process], which is a ridiculous form of authentication, as is SMS OTP,” Chew said, adding that he had seen biometrics technology tested in the labs and was confident in its stability. “This isn't science anymore. This is a business decision.”Noting that USAA, a US bank which client base comprised primarily military personnel, was among the first to introduce three biometrics options via voice, face, and fingerprint. “Why haven't banks in Asia followed suit?”
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