Key points
- Bank SinoPac reported 427 unauthorized transfers across 419 customer accounts on November 3, 2026.
- The transfers totalled more than NT$40 million, about NT$100,000 each, and went to one account at another bank.
- The bank blamed a software fault in its new online banking system and refunded customers.
- Some customers said the transfers showed as face-scan approvals. The bank has not confirmed this.
Taiwan’s Bank SinoPac took its new mobile banking app offline on November 3, 2026, after unauthorized transfers hit 419 customers. The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said the bank reported 427 abnormal transactions totalling more than NT$40 million (about US$1.2 million). Each transfer was about NT$100,000.
The bank said a software fault in its new online banking transaction system caused the transfers. It said it reimbursed affected customers, including transaction fees, from its own funds. Customers were directed to the older app version or ATMs while the new app stays offline.
Where the face scan claim comes from
Several customers wrote on social media that their transfers appeared as face-scan approvals, even though they had not opened the app. They also said they received no SMS verification. These accounts have not been confirmed. Neither the bank’s statement nor the FSC’s comments, as reported, mentioned face scans.
If a face-scan step was involved, the question is how an approval was recorded without the account holder taking part. This is the kind of weakness that liveness checks and server-side verification are meant to prevent. Our guide to face recognition uses and limits explains how these checks work.
What the regulator and police said
Wang Yun-chung, deputy director-general of the FSC’s Banking Bureau, said the bank notified the regulator shortly before noon. He said the FSC would decide on further action once the bank clarified the cause and severity. The bank must file a detailed report by November 12.
All the money went to a single account at Taipei Fubon Bank, which froze it. Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau had received 68 reports by noon, many from Yunlin County residents. It asked for an internal audit and bank data to establish the nature of the case.
Open questions
How did transfers of this size pass the bank’s limits and checks without customers logging in? Did any face-scan step run, and if so, what triggered it? Will the FSC publish its findings after the November 12 report?
Sources
- Focus Taiwan: SinoPac still probing unauthorized transfer of NT$40 million, FSC statement and bank statement (Nov 3, 2026)
- Taipei Times: Bank SinoPac issues refunds after system glitch (Nov 3, 2026)
- INSIDE: customer face-scan claims, marked unconfirmed (Nov 3, 2026)
