AppleInsider Staff
Dutch bank ING and Singapore's OCBC Bank recently integrated Touch ID compatibility to their respective iOS apps, marking the first time Apple's fingerprint recognition system has been used to protect mobile banking apps in those countries.
Support for Apple's Touch ID was added to ING and OCBC's mobile apps this week, allowing customers to securely access account information on the latest iPhone and iPad hardware.
As noted by The Straits Times, which first reported OCBC's app update, users can view bank account, credit card and investment balances after performing a one-time activation process.
According to the NL Times, ING's new app is the first of two to integrate fingerprint recognition capabilities. The bank plans to launch a second app before summer that will let customers confirm payments using Touch ID confirmation.
Apps from a number of banks in other countries like the U.S. and UK already incorporate Touch ID fingerprint security, as Apple opened up the fingerprint sensor's API to developers with iOS 8.
Christine McKee
Stephen Silver
Charles Martin
Amber Neely
15 Comments
I've been hoping US financial institutions would adopt Touch ID to streamline their login UI. To date, only one of mine has. Hopefully the delay is because they're ensuring that Touch ID meets their security guidelines, not reluctance to adopt it overall.
Singapore has kicked things off with TouchID... When will our big Malaysian banks like Maybank, CIMB, Public, Hong Leong et al follow suit?
After reading this story I went to the app stores finance section and found a bank called simple - the app looks really nice, authorizes through Touch ID, allows you to contact them through the app like an instant message, deposit checks through the app, no fees, no overdraft fees, easy to transfer money to people and different accounts, they realy revamped the typical banking experience - I've already opened a checking account-which was also easy through their website. It was featured in Apple's finance section and looks good so far-you should Check it out and see what you think. The Bank is based in Oregon. You have to see the aesthetic to know what I mean.
I'm glad to see this but I still prefer to do a manual login for my apps that connect with my banks and 1Password. Perhaps one day I'll give in to the convenience of it, but right now i access these apps infrequently enough that I prefer an app password I can remember.
I'm glad to see this but I still prefer to do a manual login for my apps that connect with my banks and 1Password. Perhaps one day I'll give in to the convenience of it, but right now i access these apps infrequently enough that I prefer an app password I can remember.
Touch ID authorization is opt-in, you're not required to use it. Remember, you can disable Touch ID completely at the OS level on devices that support it.
You must deliberately authorize Touch ID for individual app usage like 1Password or AMEX.