The Financial Services Agency requested that financial institutions bring forward the shift to an identity-verification method based on reading IC chips. Against the backdrop of a succession of driver's licence image leaks, the move is intended to encourage the shift without waiting for the deadline for full mandatory implementation.
The succession of incidents involving leaked driver's licence images has been cited as the background. Financial institutions are reportedly considering shifting eKYC operations from transmitting images of driver's licences to reading their IC chips.
The FSA's request is understood to reflect an intention to strengthen security at an early stage without postponing the deadline for full mandatory implementation, although details such as the specific implementation date and scope of application will await future announcements.