The Financial Supervisor Commission (FSC) is planning to relax regulations on Web-based consumer lending at banks, as the government seeks to create a comprehensive digital banking environment, the commission said yesterday.
Current regulations allow online loan applications, but require banks to adopt stricter identity authentication standards for Web-based applications than for those who apply at a physical branch, the commission said.
The requirements include identification via videoconference or the use of encrypted digital tokens, the commission said.
The new rules would allow banks to use biometric authentication technology, heeding banks’ years-long calls for eased rules, Banking Bureau Deputy Director-General Lin Chih-chi (林志吉) told a videoconference in New Taipei City.
Sanctioned biometric authentication methods would be based on a person’s unique physical traits such as fingerprints, facial features or a retina, and people would have to identify themselves using these features when visiting a physical branch, Lin said.
Authentication would also include questions about regular account activity, including transfers or transactions, Lin said.
The new rules would only apply to consumers who already have a digital savings account at the bank with authentication through a credit card or another bank account, Lin said, adding that at the end of June, 3.3 million people had eligible digital savings accounts.
This type of account is most common at the nation’s two Web-only banks, Rakuten International Commercial Bank Co (樂天國際商銀) and Line Bank Taiwan Ltd (連線商業銀行), Lin said.
The accounts have a limit on individual transfers of NT$10,000, while the daily transfer amount is capped at NT$30,000, the commission said.
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