NADRA Unveils AI Based Solution To Verify Senior Citizens' Fingerprints

NADRA Chairman stated that the NADRA has received numerous complaints from senior citizens who have difficulty verifying their fingerprints, particularly at banks.

NADRA Unveils AI Based Solution To Verify Senior Citizens' Fingerprints

The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) announced on Thursday an artificial intelligence (AI)-based solution to the problem of verifying the fingerprints of citizens over the age of 60.

“In order to avoid biometrics, senior citizens will be asked AI-based secret personal questions. Once correct answers are received, senior citizens will be considered verified, especially during biometric verification at banks,” said NADRA Chairman Muhammad Tariq Malik during the launch ceremony of the “NADRA Tasdeeq service” at the NADRA headquarters.

Malik stated that the NADRA has received numerous complaints from senior citizens who have difficulty verifying their fingerprints, particularly at banks. In light of this, he stated that the NADRA has implemented an innovative AI-based solution.

He stated that it is natural for people over the age of 60 to have difficulty with biometric matching because skin elasticity declines with age and fingerprints fade. In such a situation, elderly people cannot be verified and face significant difficulties opening bank accounts or receiving money, according to him.

He hoped that the banks’ Know Your Customer (KYC) exercises for senior citizens would go smoothly thanks to the new solution system, which will use AI to generate questions based on personal data stored in the NADRA database.

According to the NADRA, there are currently 46 banks operating in the country, with this service being implemented in five of them: MCB, Allied Bank, Bank Al Falah, Bank of Khyber, and Soneri Bank, while National Bank, Askari Bank, First Women Bank Limited, and Khushali Bank are undergoing final testing ahead of launching this service.

Professor Fateh Muhammad Malik, Kishwar Naheed, Iftikhar Arif, and Anwar Masood attended the launching ceremony.

One potential AI-based solution to verifying the fingerprints of citizens over the age of 60 could be to use machine learning algorithms to train a model on a dataset of fingerprints from older individuals.

This model could then be used to match and verify fingerprints from people of this age, even if their fingerprints have changed due to natural ageing processes.