London-based bank Standard Chartered plans this year to introduce biometric technology to customers in eight African countries so they can use fingerprints to access their mobile money — a process known as touch login — versus usernames and passwords.

The roll-out is expected to reach 5 million people in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The bank claims it will be a first in most markets with the largest deployment of fingerprint biometric technology by any international bank, Fin Tech Innovation reported.

Pending regulatory approval, touch login will launch by the end of 2016 in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is already operational in Singapore, United Arab Emirates and India. It is also due to launch in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Pakistan. Read more