Central bank eyes biometrics to protect online financial transactions

The goal is to prevent fraud, Le Anh Dung, deputy director general of the central bank’s payment department, said at a conference titled "Protecting bank accounts from rising fraud risk" held on Tuesday.

Biometric authentication uses biological identifiers such as fingerprints, irises, voices, and facial features, and is considered the most secure from fraud.

Vietnam has a high cybercrime rate with 87,000 cases recorded in 2022, according to the Global Anti-Scam Alliance. In 2021, alone victims lost $374 million, or approximately $4,200 per incident.

Dung said cybercriminals have become more organized in their operations, created firms with a global reach and even made centers to recruit people.

New kinds of fraud have also appeared in recent years, he said.

He suggested that an online transaction limit should be established, and said eventually authentication would be through biometry rather than OTP.

Now 90% of online transactions are worth less VND10 million, he said.