Kyoto Bank will stop accepting photographed ID documents and face matching for new accounts opened through its mobile app, and will instead require customers to verify their identity using the chip in a My Number card. The change is scheduled for November 2.
The bank cited a recent spate of incidents in which unauthorized access to online customer services and business systems exposed personal information, including images of driver’s licenses and other identity documents. It is making the change to prevent criminals from opening accounts in other people’s names using stolen data.
Under the current method, an applicant photographs a photo identity document and the image is compared with the applicant’s face. The replacement uses Japan’s Public Personal Authentication Service, known as JPKI, which relies on an electronic certificate stored on the My Number card’s IC chip to verify identity and create electronic signatures online.
Kyoto Bank described the switch as an early response to amendments to Japan’s Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds. When those changes take effect in April 2027, the document image and face matching method will be abolished for non-face-to-face transactions.
Mobile carriers are making a similar shift. NTT Docomo began introducing IC chip identity checks across its stores in August, reading data from My Number cards, driver’s licenses and residence cards.
The Japanese Bankers Association is now urging members to move sooner. At a press conference on October 15, association chairman Katsuhiko Kato, president of Mizuho Bank, said banks need to shift to identity checks that read the IC chips in documents such as driver’s licenses as quickly as possible. Mizuho has already begun using chip reading alongside its existing image-based checks.
Kato said the association had planned for full adoption of IC chip verification in April 2027 but would encourage member banks to bring it forward following a request from the Financial Services Agency. The regulator warned financial institutions on October 9 about the recent rise in unauthorized access and urged careful non-face-to-face identity verification.
Other financial services are making similar changes. Crypto asset exchange Zaif stopped accepting driver’s licenses for new individual accounts on October 13 and now requires My Number card chip reading through JPKI, along with a smartphone that can read the card. Customers who have already completed verification are not affected.
Sources: Kyoto Bank, Nikkin, Zaif
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
