How important is biometric verification for mobile payments?

The mass adoption of smartphones and consumers' comfort with mobile technology is behind the steady growth in biometric technologies to support mobile payments. And according a few recent surveys, consumers are more than ready. In a new survey from Viewpost, an electronic invoicing and payment company, 80 percent of the 1,000 U.S.-based consumers polled said they are in support of “futuristic” payments technologies and currencies including sensor fingerprinting, facial recognition, retinal scanning and voice control, as well as currencies like bitcoin. The findings around some of the innovations include:

• Sensor Fingerprinting: Half believe fingerprint technology will be used for authentication to pay and receive payments over the next 10 years.
• Facial Recognition: Thirty-five percent see facial recognition as a key authentication technology for making payments within the next ten years, while 32 percent trust facial recognition for securing electronic payments.
• Retinal Scanning: Thirty-one percent cited retinal scanning as a viable technology for authenticating payments by 2027.
• Voice Control: Eighteen percent see themselves using voice control to make payments by 2027.

Similarly, a May survey of 1,002 U.S. adults from EyeVerify, which specializes in retina scanning verification, found 79 percent of those polled indicating they want the opportunity to use more biometric authentication methods beyond the fingerprint (eye, face, and voice) to access mobile banking or payment apps. Overall, 86 percent agreed that biometrics makes logging into apps easier than typing in a password. Seventy-eight percent agreed mobile apps with biometrics are more secure than apps that don’t use it and 82 percent say biometrics are more secure than passwords for mobile banking and payment transactions. Forty-two percent wouldn’t use a banking or payment app that doesn’t offer biometric authentication. “Most people use some form of biometrics every day, but they want more opportunities to use it to make their lives easier and more secure,” said Toby Rush, CEO of EyeVerify, in a statement. 

• EyeVerify Survey Reveals High Consumer Trust in Biometrics for Mobile Banking and Payments – EyeVerify
• Cybersecurity Incidents Plague U.S. Finance Operations, According to TD Bank Survey – TD Bank/PRNewswire
• A.I.-based typing biometrics might be authentication's next big thing – Computer World