Politics · Japan · 2 days ago
Japan urges financial firms to switch online ID checks to chip reading sooner
Japan’s Financial Services Agency urged financial firms on October 9 to move online identity checks to reading the chips in identity documents as soon as possible.
The agency said identity-document images have been exposed in a series of data leaks.
Under a rule change, firms will stop accepting identity-document images for online checks from April 1, 2027, and will generally use chip data instead.
The government says chip reading is more effective at preventing fraud.
Until the change takes effect, the agency wants firms to carefully check identity-document and face images for anything unusual.
It also called on firms to review risks from outside contractors and their plans for responding to cyber incidents.
The leaks include about 1.6 million identity-document records exposed in an attack on Times Car, a car-sharing service.
Japan’s Financial Services Agency urged financial firms to switch quickly to identity checks that read the chip in identity documents.
The agency said repeated data leaks involving images of identity documents, including driving licences, made the change urgent.
A government rule will end the method of verifying identity by receiving document images from April 1, 2027.
Until then, the agency urged firms to check carefully for signs of tampering in document and face images.
It also called on firms to review cybersecurity risks, including those involving contractors and other outside parties.
- Who
- Japan’s Financial Services Agency urged financial firms to act.
- What
- It called for faster adoption of online identity checks using information read from ID-card chips.
- When
- October 9, 2026. The government rule takes effect on April 1, 2027.
- Where
- Japan.
- Why
- The agency cited repeated leaks of customer information, including images of identity documents, and the risk of fraudulent use of financial services.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
take action as quickly as possible
The Financial Services Agency issued a warning urging firms to move quickly to chip-based identity checks.
A revised government regulation is due to end identity verification by receiving images of documents and make chip-data reading the general method.
- Agency
- Japan’s Financial Services Agency
- Announcement
- October 9, 2026
- New rule
- Takes effect April 1, 2027
- Affected method
- Receiving images of identity documents for online identity checks
- Example of leaked data
- About 1.6 million identity-document records in the Times Car breach
Sources
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