To ensure better security in the use of the so-called PromptPay electronic money transfer system through smart phones, the Bank of Thailand and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission have agreed to introduce fingerprint scanning for smart phone buyers probably by year’s end.
Pre-paid and post-paid phone users who want to apply for “Prompt Pay service” will be required to have their fingerprints scanned the next time they buy a smart phone at yearend. The fingerprints will be kept in the data-bank for reference.
So when an electronic transfer is made by a phone user, the databank can check that the user is real and the transaction is approved electronically.
BoT governor Veerathai Santiprapob explained that the PromptPay is a closed electronic money transfer system unlike the normal online money transfer which is vulnerable to hacking. He asked members of the public to have faith in the system’s security.
