Russian banks applied for the right to open accounts, make deposits and issue loans to new customers using facial and voice casts from the Unified Biometric System (UBS), which the Russians provided on their own through their smartphones, Izvestia writes.

The opportunity to independently register facial and voice casts in the UBS through own smartphone was legally fixed on December 30, 2021. However, self-registered biometrics can be used for a limited range of operations․ Among them are biometric payments of not more than 1 thousand rubles, payment for transportation fee through face recognition in the Moscow metro, as well as remote service to bank clients in those credit institutions where they already have an account. The banks offered to use the biometrics of the Russians, registered by them on their own, for opening an account remotely.

Now, citizens who have submitted facial and voice casts in the UBS in the traditional way – by visiting a bank branch - can open an account remotely using biometrics. Credit institutions believe that the restriction on the use of part of the casts of the face and voice to identify the client will infringe on the rights of citizens to receive remote financial services.

This method of opening an account does not increase the risks, since banks have the opportunity to conduct additional checks on the client, the letter from the National Financial Markets Council (NFMC) to the Central Bank of Russia, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Digital Development and the government says. However, credit institutions asked to mark in the UBS those casts of faces and voices that were registered by clients themselves.

“There is no consensus among banks on the security of using biometrics registered by customers on their own, on opening accounts remotely and providing financial services. This is the reason they ask for the right to use such data for remote admission to services, however, each credit institution could choose on its own whether to use this opportunity,” Andrey Emelin, president of the NFMC, said.



The Bank of Russia supports the possibility of self-registration of biometric data in the UBS using a secure mobile application without visiting the bank’s office, the Central Bank told Izvestia. However, it will be possible to use them for a limited list of services, the regulator emphasized.

Rosfinmonitoring does not support the proposed method of identification, since it carries the risk of entry of inaccurate data on citizens into the UBS, Izvestia was told in the service.

Opening deposits and issuing loans remotely using biometrics collected through a mobile application in the UBS is currently classified as a high-risk service, the Ministry of Digital Development agrees.

Work on the function of self-registration of biometrics through a mobile application continues, Rostelecom – acting as the UBS operator - told Izvestia. The company emphasized that they provide a sufficient level of reliability: data processing within self-registration using a mobile application will be carried out using certified tools of cryptographic protection of information, and the client’s device will be scanned by an antivirus.

If banks receive the necessary support the customers will have new opportunities to open an account and receive loans in any organization whenever they want, Maxim Makarov, head of the Sales Strategy of international payment provider Ecommpay in Russia, said.

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