Tradelink’s Executive Director and Chief Operations Officer, Andrew Cheng, was featured on RTHK’s “Bucket of Gold” programme on 17 February 2026, where he shared insights into the latest challenges of anti-deepfake solutions powered by AI and their implications for network security.
Andrew highlighted that fraudsters are increasingly using AI to generate highly realistic fake identities and documents to bypass banking systems. This allows criminals to open “puppet accounts” at minimal cost for illegal activities like money laundering. Consequently, financial institutions face a critical challenge balancing the convenience of remote eKYC with the absolute necessity of robust security.
Strengthening Identity Management with Chip Technology
To combat the vulnerabilities of mobile camera verification, physical chip technology serves as an exceptionally high defense line. Modern identity cards and bank cards feature built-in chips that remain highly resistant to hackers and criminal syndicates.
Andrew also recommends leveraging the government’s “iAM Smart” system to streamline enterprise eKYC processes. By reading the government-issued chip and utilising pre-verified data, “iAM Smart” provides a secure, high-threshold identity management framework.
The Path Forward: AI vs AI
Banks are proactively deploying anomaly detection to identify suspicious patterns, such as Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) or a single face but different identities registered across multiple accounts at the same bank.
Furthermore, as open-source mobile operating systems are relatively vulnerable to attacks, banking systems must strive to block insecure devices.
Moving forward, the industry must embrace “Explainable AI”, such as deepfake detection, to clearly understand the reasoning behind automated system decisions. Ultimately, organizations must invest in using AI to counter AI-driven attacks while integrating physical verification methods to ensure a secure digital ecosystem.
Listen to the full interview (broadcast on 17 February 2026):
https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/ch/news-programmes/this-episode.htm?cmsid=94&episode_id=1080885&livetime=20260217000000