Bad biometrics

This refers to the press release from the State Bank of Pakistan (The News, July 02, 2019) pertaining to the verification and blocking of bank accounts for non compliance of biometric procedures. As stated in my earlier letter on the subject ‘Necessary exemption’ (July 1, 2019), the fact is that our citizens, especially the elderly, are facing problems relating to biometric verification and their accounts have been blocked by some banks. Banks have blocked accounts with explicit instructions to the account holders that it is being done as per SBP directives to block accounts which are not biometrically verified. I received a message dated June 22, 2019 from my bank, stating “Dear customer, as per SBP directives all biometric unverified accounts will be blocked after 30th June 2019 “. This was followed by a message from the same bank dated July 2, 2019, “Please confirm biometric verification to enjoy our uninterrupted services.”This happened even though I had visited this and another bank where I have my pension account, and faced difficulties in going through the biometric verification. I believe that the SBP should take into account how fingerprints fade with age, making biometric confirmation increasingly difficult with age. I have also known people facing similar difficulties because the scanner cannot pickup their prints. Will the SBP care to respond to this action by the concerned bank especially after its clarification of July 2, 2019? If the bank has exceeded its jurisdiction shouldn’t the SBP take action against this and any other bank as per banking laws for violating its instructions? Finally I would like to request the State Bank of Pakistan to issue clear and unambiguous instructions to banks and through the media for the general public pertaining to biometric verification and grant exemption of biometric verification to the senior citizens of our country.Saeed N KhanRawalpindi

from The News International - Newspost https://ift.tt/2KZ4l6m