Thailand’s mobile operators will be required to introduce an online fingerprint ID system for registering all new SIM cards, the Bangkok Post reported.

The telecoms regulator set a tentative deadline of February for operators to launch the ID verification system. The regulator’s telecom committee approved the plan to introduce a fingerprint registration system in September.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has urged mobile users to voluntarily add their fingerprints in the system to improve security. Of the country’s 103 million mobile subscribers, 14 million use mobile banking services, the newspaper said.

The push for an ID verification system follows a number of fraud cases involving mobile banking over the past few months.

The registration system, developed by a local university, will need to complement operators’ existing mandatory SIM registration systems, the Post reported. Fingerprint IDs will be stored on an NBTC database.

Operators will be able to deduct the costs of implementing the ID system from their annual universal service obligation (USO) fee, which is 3.5 per cent of revenue.