The national telecom regulator will introduce a fingerprint verification system for mobile SIM card registration this year to ensure security of the mobile banking channel.
The voluntary fingerprint measure is aimed at preventing fraudulent mobile banking activities that are hampering the industry's growth.
Mobile banking has become one of the most popular mobile services in Thailand.
"We urge all mobile banking consumers to register their fingerprints with the fingerprint verification application at their mobile operators' authorised service shops when registration is available," said Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).
Mobile operators will keep records of their customers' fingerprints on their computer servers, which are connected to the NBTC's main server.
Mr Takorn said the regulator spent 7 million baht developing the fingerprint app over a period of months. The app is compatible with all mainstream mobile operating systems.
The NBTC's telecom committee last month approved the use of fingerprint scanning by the end of this year. The committee will hold a public consultation meeting in October to gather ideas on the plan.
Mr Takorn said the fingerprint recognition system is a complement to the existing SIM card registration system.
"We don't force mobile users to register using the fingerprint system, but we urge them to for their own security," he said.
Last year the NBTC introduced regulatory controls on prepaid SIM cards, asking operators to register new prepaid mobile phone subscribers to regulate the market and reduce security risks associated with the anonymous use of prepaid SIM cards.
Criminals continue to exploit prepaid SIM cards as an anonymous channel of communications for their illicit activities.
Mr Takorn said the regulator is forcing all mobile operators to practise stricter security measures regarding new SIM card requests to prevent identity fraud and protect customers' personal information.
Last Friday, a family led by Phansuthee Meeluekij, 28, the owner of an auto accessories shop in Ayutthaya, sought help directly from the Royal Thai Police headquarters to process a complaint he filed in July over the loss of nearly a million baht to an internet banking scam.
The thief contacted True Move, his victim's mobile phone operator that he used for internet banking at Kasikornbank (KBank). The thief fooled a service shop into issuing a new SIM card without asking to see an authentic ID card.
After getting the new card, the thief contacted KBank's call centre for a new passcode for the internet banking system that was later used to transfer the money from Mr Phansuthee's account.
KBank said on Saturday that it would compensate the account holder in full for the money stolen. True Move executives met yesterday with the NBTC and Mr Phansuthee to clarify True's position after the company was silent since Friday.
Mr Takorn said the case was one of human error because True staff at the shop issued a new SIM card to the thief without asking for an authentic ID.
True Move agreed to give away a new Apple iPhone 6S Plus to the victim and one year of free calls.
Mr Takorn said the NBTC will set up a working panel to scrutinise the case again and whether True Move should be fined for failing to comply with the regulation requiring an authentic ID to issue a new SIM card.
Chakkrit Urairat, deputy director for regulatory issues at True Corporation, said a True Move employee used her own discretion to issue a new SIM card without asking for an authentic ID because the thief said he had lost both his ID and SIM cards.
The employee believed the customer had an emergency and needed to use a mobile phone, he said. The customer was also classified as a high-usage customer.