Given the ubiquity of selfies, the idea of incorporating them into credit cards was almost inevitable. In fact, it's surprising that somebody hadn't thought of doing so before this week's announcement by FGB, formerly First Gulf Bank, that its customers would be able to upload their own pictures for display on their "My Card" products.
Of course, the provision of credit is a very competitive industry and banks across the UAE already offer dozens of different cards with distinctive appearances and myriad benefits. In this landscape, it would be easy to dismiss the selfie card as a trifle designed to appeal to the customer’s vanity or sense of fun.
However, its emergence raises a question: why don’t all credit cards carry a photograph of the user as a means of fighting theft and fraud? A shop assistant could simply compare the image on the card with the face of the person presenting it, just as immigration officers at airports do with passports. A similar system could work online, with the camera on your computer or smartphone taking an image that could be compared with a picture on the bank’s database.
This would be easy to implement and would help banks save money by cutting crime. They may even save enough to lower their interest rates.
