The Central Bank will expand the list of services available to Russians using biometric data – facial image and voice, according to the draft guidelines for digitalization of the financial market for the period 2022-2024. The document was published on the regulator’s website.
Thus, it is planned to transfer the Unified Biometric System (UBS) to the status of a state information system. In the future, it will be possible to collect such information not only through banks, as it is now, but also in multifunctional centers for the provision of state and municipal services (MFC). In addition, it is planned to conduct an experiment on self-registration of such data by citizens through a special secure mobile application.
“It is assumed that biometric data registered in this way can be used to obtain certain financial and government services, the list of which will be established by the Bank of Russia jointly with the Russian Ministry of Digital Science,” the document says. It is clarified that such an experiment will help “expand the number of people who can receive services remotely, and accelerate the collection of biometric data in the EBS.”
Various services – financial, non-financial and government – will be able to remotely receive both citizens and legal entities with individual entrepreneurs. With the help of biometrics, it will be allowed to pass not only identification, but also authentication – for example, to confirm or cancel questionable transactions.
In addition, it is planned to work out the possibility of using a video identification mechanism. Earlier, in May, the Central Bank warned of the risks of such a decision. In particular, the regulator said that fraudsters can use the service using Deepfake technology.
Also, the Central Bank plans to allow banks with a universal license to issue loans, open accounts and deposits remotely. To do this, the client will have to go through biometrics identification on the website and in the mobile application.
Finally, the Central Bank and the Russian government intend to work out the possibility of biometric identification of non-resident citizens without visiting the country.
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