The list of things we can unlock with our fingerprints, faces and irises is getting longer. JetBlue passengers can board a plane from Boston to Aruba by pausing in front of a camera. Samsung Galaxy S8 owners can access their phones with their eyes. And fingerprint authentication is becoming so ubiquitous in the workplace, there are now entire sets of regulations governing its use.
As biometric technology improves and more use cases evolve, we discover more about the benefits, risks and the growth potential of the technology each day. In fact, here are three things we’ve recently learned about the technology.
The world’s largest biometric database houses 1+ billion profiles.
Did you know 99 percent of Indian adults have given their biometric profiles over to their country’s government? The result has been the building of the world’s largest biometrics database containing the faces, all 10 fingerprints and two iris scans of each of 1.16 billion people.
The database is just one strategy in the country’s larger plan to issue unique ID numbers for residents. Leaders want to build a fraud-free social welfare program. However, the biometric ID database has generated benefits that have trickled into many other aspects of daily life, including banking.
Consumers are ready for biometrics now.
In the U.S., as well as China, India and the UK, consumers are enthusiastic about biometric alternatives to traditional verification methods. In fact, fingerprint scanning just beat out PIN and password as the preferred method for mobile authentication among survey respondents. Eighty two percent of those asked about fingerprint scanning said they use it when they have access to it. By comparison, 71 percent said the same about PINs, 67 about passwords.
CO-OP’s own latest mobile banking iteration gives users the added security of Touch ID fingerprint authentication. In addition to more secure transactions, the technology eliminates the need for passwords, making mobile account access fast and easy for credit union members.
There are myriad reasons the technology appeals to consumers. However, the most compelling appears to be ease of use. Security and speed have also been cited by consumers as factors they consider when choosing how to access their devices, apps and data.
We’re about to experience insane growth in mobile biometrics.
Between this year and 2021, mobile biometric technology is expected to explode at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 80 percent. Much of this prediction is based on the increasing deployment of mobile fingerprint recognition. That said, fingers are not the only source of biometric data expected to play an important role in the exponential evolution of mobile user verification.
Voice and facial recognition, too, are poised to grow dramatically. For its part, voice recognition offers a low total cost of ownership and a seamless, user-friendly experience. 3D facial recognition is said to be much more accurate that other technologies (including its 2D counterpart). No matter what the form, biometric authentication is expected to bring value to various ID platforms because it can act as the coveted second layer of verification.
Credit unions across the U.S. are deploying biometric technology in their branches, mobile apps and at other member-access points to meet what appears to be growing consumer comfort with the technology. As more people around the globe become accustomed to relying on their digital profiles for access to everything from flights to offices, they will undoubtedly expect the same seamless, secure experiences from their financial institutions.
