No, the teller is not sufficiently qualified to be liable enough to match the picture on the ID to the person in front.

The 2nd factor is the phone number on file, which offloads liability for errors in that mechanism to the phone company.

The goal is to reduce the amount of decisions the teller makes, so as to reduce the amount of errors they can make, which also reduces the amount of training they need, all of which reduces costs.

It’s really interesting how the lack of US federal government stepping in to provide an official electronic identity verification API has resulted in the mobile phone networks becoming the de facto arbiters of identity. Even for government services.

I don’t even think I could trust having my phone number on someone else’s mobile phone plan, as I would want to ensure I have as much control over it as possible.