Airtel Payments Bank will now identify customers by face, facility started at 5 lakh banking points

Airtel Payments Bank in collaboration with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched face authentication for AePS (Aadhaar-enabled Payment System) across its 500,000 banking points. Bharti Airtel has given information about this.
With this, Airtel Payments Bank has joined the first four banks in the country to introduce face authentication for AePS. Let us tell you that this rollout of the company is being done in phases. It is starting with the first phase, which includes non-financial transactions like balance inquiry and mini-statement.
Ganesh Ananthanarayanan, Chief Operating Officer, of Airtel Payments Bank said, “Face authentication is one of our existing options for secure and simple banking solutions to drive financial and digital inclusion in the country.
The AePS facility introduced by NPCI allows customers to access their Aadhaar-linked bank account using their Aadhaar number or Virtual ID to perform financial and non-financial transactions at any banking point.
Explain that till now transactions were being authenticated using the customer's Aadhaar number and fingerprint or iris match in UIDAI records. With this new facility, customers can validate transactions using face authentication with an Aadhaar number. Authentication is processed by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) using the Face Authentication RD application.
NPCI COO Praveena Rai said that we appreciate UIDAI for introducing face authentication as an additional mode to Aadhaar-based authentication. It is heartening to see Airtel Payments Bank implementing this feature for AePS transactions, which will further enhance the reach of Aadhaar-based transactions across the country.
In the coming weeks, the bank will make this facility available for financial transactions. Airtel said that as per NPCI guidance, Airtel Payments Bank will enable functionality for other bank customers and Airtel Payments Bank customers at other banking outlets.
To avail of this facility, customers need to share their details with the Banking Correspondent (BC) or bank representative of the Airtel Payments Bank outlet, who will feed the same in the Business app. The customer then has to confirm which type of authentication they wish to proceed with, which includes fingerprint or face authentication.
Face Authentication RD App captures the live image of the customer and once the customer's face is successfully captured, the Banking Correspondent enters their MPIN and completes the transaction. This facility is available for Airtel Payments Bank customers who are enabled for Face Authentication only.