Fast, safe, promising: how biometrics is driving the development of fintech

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Voice, fingerprints, and retinal scans are already being used in payment relationships

It has been known for over 100 years that a body can be used to verify an identity instead of a password. Back in 1892, the British anthropologist, sociologist and psychologist Francis Galton created the first fingerprint classification system. The dynamic urbanization that accompanied the Industrial Revolution increased interest in methods for identifying people, so Galton's discovery was accepted and adapted by various institutions. Today biometrics tools include fingerprints, voice, facial features and cornea. The essence of the technology is to scan the physiological characteristics of a person and compare them with the available database. If there is a match, the person is identified.

In fintech, biometric technology is used not only to authenticate individuals, but also to speed up transactions. This way, you don't need a credit card or cash to make a payment - just scan your fingerprints. Thus, the simplest biometric data is used in fingerprint scanners on modern smartphones and tablets, and they can be used to access Google Pay and Apple Pay systems.

Experts identify several trends in payment innovation that are accompanied by biometric technologies:
  1. Biometrics breaks down barriers between consumers and businesses
    The customer is likely to abandon the deal if they encounter obstacles during checkout. Biometric technologies mitigate these risks by providing merchants with the data points they need to verify, as well as the convenience that consumers expect.
  2. The development of biometrics is happening in sync with smartphones
    With more and more smartphone owners around the world, fintech can rely on device evolution as a vector for innovation in payments using biometric technologies.
  3. First of all - user friendliness
    Since many biometric technologies are still in their infancy, consumer convenience is a priority over security. Fintech is making biometric technologies more usable among both businesses and consumers, making the subsequent adoption of other technologies much easier.
  4. Biometric technologies cooperate with traditional
    Traditional technologies such as ATMs are incorporating biometrics into their infrastructure, thereby increasing their own security and at the same time spreading these innovations to other segments of the financial industry.

Fintech and biometrics: bright cases
Voice, fingerprints, and retinal scans have all found their way into the payments industry. For example, the international payment system MasterCard recently launched the ability to confirm purchases on the Internet using selfies in 12 European countries. In addition, Mastercard has partnered with fintech company FinGo, which is integrating its tokenization service to securely store personal data. This will allow registered users to make payments by scanning a unique pattern of finger vessels.

Meanwhile, PayByFace uses advanced facial recognition technology to facilitate transactions. Users customize the service by registering a payment card, selfie and a unique PIN. Thus, you can completely abandon wallets and gadgets and pay in the store literally with your appearance.

Another example of biometric authentication cooperation in e-commerce is Visa and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank. They launched a system that uses biometric sensors built into a standard smartphone. ADIB customers can use the mobile app to verify their identity using face recognition or fingerprints.

And Kookmin Bank, one of the largest banks in South Korea, has partnered with Samsung to implement a biometric account access system. The service allows you to authorize users using the irises of the eyes.

Of course, the development of biometric solutions for mobile payments received a boost from the COVID pandemic. After all, non-cash and contactless forms of payment have become essential components of the campaign to contain the spread of the virus. For example, Apple Pay introduced mobile POS payments through smartphones that use fingerprinting through its Apple TouchID biometric system. This not only increases security while verifying the user's identity, but also makes it easier to surf the Internet and on mobile devices.

The future of biometrics in fintech
Experts say the demand for biometric data is only growing. This is due to an increase in interest in more accurate and simple identification methods, as well as an overall improvement in the capabilities of artificial intelligence technologies. Agree, compared to remembering a password or entering a PIN, biometrics offers a better alternative. Juniper Research analysts claim that biometric data will be used for authentication of $ 2 trillion. dollars of global sales until 2023, which is 17 times higher than in 2018. And Mercator predicts that 66% of smartphone owners will use biometric data by 2024 (15% more than in 2020).

Unlike conventional authentication procedures, biometrics makes it difficult for attackers to use illegally obtained consumer credentials. However, this does not mean that there are no risks. In 2015, the US government database was broken and the fingerprints of 5.6 million federal employees were stolen. In addition, if the usual forms of authentication can simply be changed in the event of theft, then it is impossible to change your voice or face. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the development of cybersecurity, which can adequately solve the problem.

While many systems currently use one type of biometric identifier, the technology is expected to include multifactor authentication in the future, including fingerprint, retinal and even heartbeat scans. This will provide an adequate level of protection while maintaining comfort and speed of use.
 
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