People Wearing Masks to be Denied Money From ATMs
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
Anyone wearing a mask will not be able to withdraw money from an automatic teller machine (ATM).
The financial authorities, banks and police are planning to mount a face-detection device on ATMs to help prevent crime, the National Policy Agency said.
It has requested financial companies to adopt face-reading ATMs to prevent criminals covering their faces with masks and caps from withdrawing cash.
An ATM equipped with the system will automatically stop functioning when a person with their face partially hidden by a mask is detected on camera.
The police agency held a meeting Friday with financial companies and banks to discuss details of the measures. The system was went through a trial run in 2004, but was later discarded due to the 200,000 billion won ($150) cost to install the machines.
The system developer plans to cut the cost by half if banks place orders for more than 10,000, police said.