UIDAI Pushes for Aadhaar-Based Face Authentication in High-Value Transactions

The face of online transactions is constantly changing in India with the coming of new and better technologies. Recently, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) advocated for an Aadhaar-based face authentication that could be used for high-value financial transactions. The authority is pitching this tech as a faster and more reliable identity verification tool for customers when it comes to big financial transactions.

Speaking at the Global Fintech Fest 2025 in Mumbai, Abhishek Kumar Singh, Deputy Director General at UIDAI, said the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is already aligned with this approach and may announce the rollout shortly.

“UIDAI is the foundational infrastructure. It’s the only way to surely know who is who. We have the world’s largest biometric database and strongly advocate the use of face authentication as a modality in multi-factor assessment,” Singh said during a panel discussion.

He added that while traditional biometric authentication methods often depend on specialised devices, face authentication can simplify the process since it works directly through smartphones.

“When we talk of face authentication, your smartphone becomes your device. That means the ecosystem expands from a few million devices to more than 640 million,” Singh noted.

India currently has over 64 crore smartphones, according to UIDAI’s data, which Singh said presents a massive opportunity for scaling up secure and convenient verification systems. He urged banks and financial institutions to adopt this technology, calling it the “easiest and quickest way” to confirm identity for sensitive transactions.

The move is seen as part of UIDAI’s broader effort to strengthen digital authentication and reduce dependency on one-time passwords (OTPs) or hardware-based biometric tools. If implemented, it could make high-value transactions smoother, especially for customers who increasingly rely on mobile banking.