New ID cards will require fingerprinting of residents

Residents will be required to be fingerprinted when obtaining a new ID card beginning in July, the Shanghai Public Security Bureau said yesterday.

The move is aimed to curb counterfeiting and false use of ID cards.

"Relying only on police officers to quickly identify a fake ID from genuine ones is sometimes difficult," said Zhang Yijun, a top official with the bureau's population department office.

The city's more than 200 police stations have already issued 10,756 new ID cards with fingerprint information, police said.

Residents can go to the nearest police station to get the new ID card and an officer will take prints of the applicant's thumbs. The ID card costs 20 yuan (US$3.26), police said.

Yan Zhao, a deputy director with the population department office, said some banks are in talks with police about the fingerprint ID cards.

Yan said banks could require customers to be fingerprinted to ensure their identity to prevent fraud and theft.

In order for such a system to work, banks will need to install terminals to read the fingerprints, officers said.

Officers said fingerprints can help them solve crimes.

Police caught a suspect accused of stealing 800,000 yuan worth of valuables from a home in February based on a fingerprint from the crime scene.

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