Hana to use biometrics to make internet banking safer

Hana Financial Group said Tuesday that it will become the country’s first financial institution to apply biometrics technology to its internet banking system.

Instead of the accessing the authentication certificate provided by financial companies when conducting banking via the internet, the process will be simplified through biometric technologies such as finger-print, iris or facial recognition authentication.

The company said it has signed a contract with the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) to commercialize the biometric authentication system by January next year.

The ETRI’s technology FIDO (fast identity online) will drastically reduce the process of typing in ID and passwords as well as the authentication certificate.

“When applying FIDO, safety and convenience will improve sharply as security problems, such as getting one’s authentication certificate hacked, will be solved as well as the complicated process of downloading ActiveX,” said a Hana Financial Group official.

ActiveX is an authentication certification system developed by Microsoft for Internet Explorer.

“It will be applied in various areas whether online or offline, including internet banking, smartphone banking, tablet PC banking and even on safety deposit boxes,” the official added. “We plan to further strengthen our competitiveness on financial securities through cooperation with ETRI in various areas regarding fintech.”