South Korean banks wary of Face ID

Bucking a global trend, banks in South Korea say the iPhone's Face ID is not secure enough.On Monday, Korea Herald learned that Korean banks have rejected the facial recognition security feature of Apple's iPhone X.The report stated that around 20 commercial and online banks have already decided to not provide support to the smartphone's Face ID authentication feature. The news follows reports that a researcher in Vietnam who managed to trick Face ID using a 3D-printed mask. There's also a report on a boy who unlocked his mother's iPhone X after just staring at it. A Korean bank official has explained the reason why they are not adopting Face ID for their mobile banking services. “It was difficult for us to adopt the biometric technology (of iPhone X) abruptly, since it normally takes some time to undergo several security procedures before adopting a new technology. Plus, the phone's facial authentication technology was not fully proven,” the official said. However, two local banks have already confirmed that they are in the process of reviewing Apple's facial recognition solution for possible adoption in the future. “Local banks are not yet prepared for the Face ID security feature. However, with the rise of iPhone X sales and its security technologies proven, banks will have to follow the digital trend,” he said. For consumers who already preordered their iPhone X handsets, they may have to install and use several apps for mobile banking authentication. This gives Samsung patrons the upper hand, knowing that the latest Galaxy flagships – the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8 – don't just have facial recognition, but also iris and fingerprint scanning technologies. In recent weeks, several European and Asian banks have said they will use Face ID for authentication.

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