JAPAN’S Digital Agency said Thursday it had mistakenly suspended the use of around 20,000 bank accounts that people had registered under the “My Number” national identification system to receive state benefits.
The registrations were disabled last Friday based on erroneous data from an association of credit unions saying the accounts were not usable, it said, adding that restoration work is underway.
Recipients of public funds such as pension payments and child benefits can voluntarily link their bank accounts to their ID numbers, and the agency checks with banks and other financial institutions to see if the accounts have not been closed or suspended.
The agency invalidated the registrations of the accounts on the system and notified the account owners of the move before discovering that the information provided by the Tokyo-based association was wrong and included usable accounts.
Since the My Number ID system was introduced in 2016, a series of personal information leaks and registration errors have come to light, such as in 2023 when some bank accounts were found linked to the wrong ID cards. — Kyodo
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