Airtel Payments Bank and National Payments Corporation of India collaborate to add face authentication

Taking a step ahead to drive digital and financial inclusion in India, Airtel Payments Bank (APB) has collaborated with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). Now the organisation brought in a new Face Authentication for AePS (Aadhaar-enabled Payment System) feature. The APB is the first of four banks to offer Face Authentication for AePS. The customers of NPCI’s AePS will be enabled to carry out financial and non-financial transactions at any banking point. These bank points could be used to access their Aadhaar-linked bank account, with their Aadhaar number or virtual ID. 

Earlier, It was the Adhaar number by which the transactions were authenticated and the Iris or fingerprint match in the UIDAI records. The new service will enable the user to validate the transaction by taking on face authentication along with the Aadhaar number. The authentication has been processed by using the Face Authentication RD Application by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

It was noted in the first phase that the facility was made available for non-financial transactions- like mini-statements and Balance enquiry - only for the customers of the bank. 

Soon after, the bank is reportedly working on making it available for financial transactions. It has been reported in the guidance from NPCI, that the Airtel Payments Bank will let the functionality for other bank customers and then the customers of the bank at other outlets.

Customers can avail of the facility by following the steps:

• Banking Correspondent (BC) need to enter the customer details which are the Aadhaar number in the business application.
• Then the BC will be asked to confirm the type of Authentication to choose from Fingerprint or Face authentication (one has to be chosen). 
• Once the customer gives the consent, the BC chose the Face Authentication option. There, click on proceed.
• The Face Authentication RD App will then open to capture the live image of the customer.
• Once the customer’s face has been captured, BC will ask the customer to enter his mPIN in order to complete the transaction.

Kindly note that the customers of the respected bank will enable the Face Authentication modal and will be able to use the new service.