What are financial biometrics?
Among the most popular and mainstream applications of biometric technology, financial identification, verification, and authentication in commerce is helping make banking, shopping, and account managing more safe, convenient, and accountable. In the financial space, biometrics solutions help ensure that a customer is who she claims to be when accessing sensitive financial data by capturing her unique biometric characteristics and comparing them to a template, stored either on the device being used or on a secure server. Banking and payments solutions available today utilize a wide range of biometric modalities: fingerprint, iris, voice, face, eyeprint, palm vein pattern, behavioral and other types of biometric recognition are all used, either on their own or combined in a multi-factor system, to lock down accounts and crack down on fraud.
Where can I find financial biometrics?
Mobile wallets such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, which allow users to make credit card payments online and at physical points of sale, use biometric authentication for security. Apple Pay leverages the iPhone’s Touch ID fingerprint sensor to ensure a payment is being made by the authorized user, for instance, while Samsung Pay gives users the option to shop by scanning their irises.
Banking apps use biometric authentication for login procedures. The matching method and modalities used vary from institution to institution, but face, voice, and fingerprint recognition are common among mobile banking applications. USAA was a pioneer in this respect, leveraging face, voice, and fingerprint biometrics for convenient security, and giving users the power to choose their preferred login method.
Call centers used for phone banking are increasingly turning to voiceprint security to mitigate fraud. By matching the unique characteristics of a caller’s voice to a template as she speaks to a customer service agent or IVR system, banks can verify her identity without resorting to belaboring security questions.
ATMs are being outfitted with biometric sensors—most commonly fingerprint and face recognition—enabling customers to conveniently do away with card and PIN transactions.
Points of sale around the world are on the verge of embracing Naked Payments solutions, which leverage biometric sensors at retail checkouts that allow customers to simply pay by being themselves.
How are financial biometrics making a difference?
Facial recognition security is used on the Humaniq digital banking platform, which aims to promote financial inclusion using blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, and mobility.
Biometrics are set to enable tourists visiting Tokyo for the 2020 Olympic Games to pay for goods and services with nothing by the touch of a finger.
New initiatives from biometric vendors and their partner financial institutions are paving the way for credit cards with embedded biometric sensors, promising stronger-than-PIN security with the convenience and familiarity of paying with plastic.
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