I had to go renew my passport today. 5 years ago, it was a 1-day service. Now it is a 1 hour service … the fine print is that it is 1 hour from payment. The reality is that there is a bit of waiting before you get to make your payment. I had to get my documents checked beforehand at one counter, then get my details processed (together with thumbprints) before I could make payment. That added another half hour … but I’m very happy with the speed.
Malaysia implemented the world’s first chip passport some 12 years ago, even before an international standard was agreed on. This allowed fully automated entry and exit immigration based on thumbprint scanning.
Sadly, the western world’s aversion to finger printing meant that the Malaysian passports weren’t really compliant … it used thumbprints while the international standard went for facial recognition (hence all those rules about not smiling for the camera). I believe the Malaysian passport now has both thumbprints and facial technology.
It’s funny how things have come a full circle … as a child, I remember people being finger printed at banks because they were illiterate and couldn’t sign. Nowadays, when you go to the bank, you’re finger printed (and matched against your finger prints in your government chip ID) as it’s the technologically advanced way of identity verification!