Santander Mexico has begun to register customers’ biometric data to make their transactions more secure. The entity will invest one billion pesos in the next five years and expects to register more than 3.7 million customers in the country during the first stage.

Biometric security was set as a requirement for banks in Mexico in 2019 and Santander is already well on the way to implementing its solution. The aim is to register 145,000 customers a month, reaching 3.7 million in the first stage. Biometric data is recorded by scanning fingerprints and facial images using high-technology equipment. The aim of this measure is to add security elements to in-person transactions, in the first phase, and to ATMs and mobile devices, in subsequent phases. 

This system makes it possible to compare the data obtained with existing records in order to ensure full and correct identification. The process is free for customers and takes less than seven minutes. The data obtained will be used when a customer carries out in-person transactions such as balance enquiries or debit card withdrawals of over 10,000 pesos or when they open an account. Identifying a customer using this system will make it possible to detect any attempted identity theft.

Santander Mexico will become the first country in the Group to use facial recognition and the second, after Brazil, to use fingerprint recognition. The use of voice prints, another cutting-edge technology, was introduced by Santander Mexico in 2013 for telephone banking.