[Courtesy of Woori Bank]
Woori Bank opened a new era in South Korea's banking history, becoming the first to introduce the iris scanner, used by Samsung Electronics for its new flagship smartphone Galaxy S8, in mobile banking.
Woori said clients of its "Smart Banking" service could replace a certificate of authentication and a security card used for internet banking with iris to verify financial transactions. It was the first South Korean bank to support web browsers other than Internet Explorer for online banking.
The Galaxy S8 allows users to unlock their devices simply by staring at the front screen. Fingerprint scanners are widely used at banks and state bodies to check identify, but mobile payment requires hack-proof solutions to ensure safe and convenient financial transactions.
Woori's move came as Samsung released its new Galaxy S8 series at home nearly eight months after faulty batteries prompted a humiliating global recall of its previous premium smartphone Note 7. Along with Woori, many South Korean banks had to draw back their plans on adopting the iris scanner as biometric authentication methods because of the exploding Note 7s.
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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