HSBC lets customers use selfies to open new accounts

UK bank HSBC will allow its business customers to open new accounts using selfies for authentication, in an effort to streamline its application process.

HSBC's mobile app - on both iOS and Android - now uses proprietary facial recognition technology to allow users to take a photo of themselves and have it matched against a passport, driver's license or other official ID document uploaded by the customer.

It will mean business banking clients will no longer need to attend a branch to open a new account.

HSBC's head of global propositions for commercial banking, Richard Davies, said the bank expected the selfie verification process to become the authentication method of choice for customers.

It's not HSBC's first foray into biometric technology; the bank already offers fingerprint and voice recognition verification for its services.

Fellow financial services firm MasterCard earlier this year revealed that successful trials of verification through facial recognition had convinced it to introduce the technology for all its customers, while online retail giant Amazon filed a patent for mobile payments technology that would give customers the option of using photo or video authentication in March.