New NAB customers will be asked to take a 'selfie' as part of a new process when opening an account or product online to help protect customers from fraud and scams.
The initiative is aimed at reducing fraud such as identify theft which occurs when an individual's details are stolen by criminals.
In addition, they'll be required to scan their identification document like a Driver's License or Passport and hold their mobile phone up to their face to match the image.
The initiative will begin rolling out across select products in September, with further expansion to additional products and account types planned over the coming months.
It follows other actions NAB has taken to protect customers, including rolling out confirmation of payee in digital banking channels in line with industry, removing links from text messages, introducing payment alerts to digital banking and making it harder for criminals to infiltrate bank phone numbers and text message threads.
NAB Group Chief Operating Officer Les Matheson said the facial biometrics initiative would provide a critical further step in safety for customers and make life tougher for criminals.
"We still have more to do, but this is a simple and fast way we can help protect customers against fraud and scams," Mr Matheson said.
"This initiative will make it harder for criminals to open fraudulent accounts or apply for fraudulent credit cards using documents they've stolen from the dark web or from someone's letter box.
"This sort of technology is already used for other services, including things like passport applications and we've designed the experience to be simple for customers to follow."
NAB already uses biometric technology in other ways with about 2 million customers a month using FaceID or fingerprints to log in to the NAB App or Internet Banking.
NAB also uses another form of behavioural biometrics to help identify and detect suspicious transactions.
The facial biometric identification initiative is part of NAB's bank-wide scam strategy and the banking industry's Scam Safe Accord launched in 2023. The Accord outlines key areas the banking industry will focus on to take actions against scams.
"While we must do more and we will, criminals operate beyond laws and regulations," Mr Matheson said.
"That's why every part of the scam ecosystem needs to remain focused on stopping the crime before it happens."
