Nadra introduces verification service for senior citizens

ISLAMABAD: In order to remove the hassles faced by senior citizens during the bio-metric matching, the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) launched an alternate system, NADRA Tasdeeq Service, on Thursday.

The innovative solution envisages alternate identity verification for senior citizens above 60 years of age. They will be asked artificial intelligence-based secret personal questions for identity verification to bypass bio-metrics. Once correct answers are received, senior citizens will be deemed to have been verified, especially during the bio-metric verification at banks. The launching ceremony of NADRA Tasdeeq Service was held at the NADRA headquarters, in which Chairman Muhammad Tariq Malik along with prominent literary figures of Pakistan Professor Fateh Muhammad Malik, Kishware Naheed, Iftikhar Arif and Anwar Masood inaugurated the service. Chairman Nadra also presented a demo of Nadra verification service to the participants.

Speaking on the occasion, Chairman Nadra Tariq Malik said, “Nadra has received countless complaints from senior citizens that they face difficulties in verifying their fingerprints, especially in banks. In view of this, NADRA has introduced an innovative AI-based solution.” He added it was natural for people over sixty years of age to face problems in bio-metric matching as skin elasticity decreases with ageing and fingerprints fade. In such a situation, elderly people cannot be verified and they face difficulties in opening bank accounts or receiving money. The chairman Nadra hoped that banks would conduct their KYC exercise for senior citizens smoothly through the new solution system by deploying artificial intelligence (AI) to generate questions from the personal data stored in the Nadra database. It is pertinent to mention that at present, a total of 46 banks are working in the country and this service has been initiated in five banks, including 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. The process of on- boarding the remaining banks has already started.

Addressing the ceremony, Prof Fateh Muhammad Malik lauded the efforts of Nadra for launching the service and added that Nadra was the best example of a responsible national institution in Pakistan, which served citizens from all walks of life.