Commercial banks' failure to properly check people who open bank accounts are to blame for the arrest of a young woman unfairly linked to a call centre gang which allegedly opened bank accounts in her name, Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda says.

The case caught the public's attention after Nicha Kiartthanapaiboon, 24, on Tuesday asked the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) to track down people who used her ID card to open nine accounts with seven banks. These were used to handle the proceeds of a call centre scam.

She told police her purse and ID card disappeared in October last year. She suspects the card fell into the hands of the gang. She also showed an image from a CCTV camera at a bank in which a woman wearing a mask uses her ID card to open a bank account.

The issue has sparked public questions about bank security and why they allow people wearing face coverings to open accounts.

Gen Anupong said the ministry's Department of Provincial Administration (Dopa), which handles citizen ID cards, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with banks about collecting ID information, which can be used by banks to verify their customers.

If the banks want further information, they must have a card-reading device or computer software which could link to the ministry.

Most Thai banks did not use this channel to verify their customers. Only foreign banks in Thailand use this system, according to the minister.

Gen Anupong insisted the ministry's system is sound and nothing more needs to be done.

"The system has been in place for a long time but you can find out how many Thai banks access it to verify customer identities," he said.

Dopa director-general Arthit Boonyasophat said the department had signed MOUs with 56 organisations, including 10 commercial banks.

He also urged people who lose ID cards to report the loss immediately so the card can be terminated and a new one be issued.

The Thai Bankers Association chairman Pridi Daochai said a new system for ID verification could be rolled out by banks in the middle of this year.

This system would be more effective than the Interior Ministry's card-reading devices, he said, adding it can also be used to verify the identities of people who use online banking services. This should strengthen customer confidence.

Meanwhile, banks must toughen their rules on authenticating clients, he said.

Regarding Ms Nicha's case, she told the CSD that her purse containing her ID and ATM cards had gone missing on Oct 6.

She immediately alerted the bank to block her ATM card and went to a nearby district office to report the ID card loss. She applied for a new ID card the following day.

She later learned that on Dec 28 she had been summonsed by the police, who then attempted to arrest her at home and at work, but she was absent on both occasions.

She decided to go to see the CSD on Saturday after learning someone had used her lost ID card to commit financial crimes.

She was sent to Tak police station and later taken to court. She was initially refused bail, but was eventually released on bail the following day. Ms Nicha insisted she had nothing to do with the call centre scam.

Pol Lt Gen Tawitchat Palasak, the commander of Provincial Police Region 6, in charge of Tak police, said a committee chaired by a deputy Tak police commander will look into Ms Nicha's case. If she is found not to be involved, police will drop the charges, he said.