Brits see banks as most viable biometric ID provider: Visa

Britons are placing their trust in banks over government agencies to protect their biometric data such as fingerprints and iris scans, and banks need to capitalise on this, according to new research from Visa.A survey by the global payments giant found that consumers are nearly twice as likely to trust banks to store and keep their biometric information safe (60%), than they are to trust government agencies (33%). When asked who they would trust to offer biometrics authentication as a service to confirm identity, the largest percentage selected banks (85%) and payment networks (81%) ahead of global online brands (70%), and smartphone companies (64%). This level of trust has grown significantly in the past two years, up by 20 percentage points from 65% in 2014, when the Visa Biometric Payments study was first conducted. Nearly two-thirds of consumers (64%) want to use biometrics as a method of payment authentication and familiarity is increasing the comfort level of British consumers.The growth in fingerprint authentication for mobile payments is bringing to life the benefits of biometric authentication, which is why 80% of the people surveyed said they were the most comfortable with fingerprint recognition. Fingerprint authentication (88%) is also viewed as the most secure form of payment, ranking higher than other biometric authentication options such as iris-scanning (83%) and facial recognition (65%).Commenting on the Biometric Payments research, Kevin Jenkins, UK & Ireland Managing Director at Visa said:”Banks have a tremendous opportunity in this payment revolution. From trialling voice recognition to behavioural biometrics for authentication, we're already seeing banks – both high street and challenger banks, alike – making positive steps to adopt this technology in a variety of use cases. This consumer confidence in both authentication as well as the storage of their biometric data gives banks the perfect win-win scenario, enabling them to provide a service that the public wants which will also benefit the banks, themselves.”Visa is already supporting a number of institutions in the development of emerging forms of authentication. We will continue our role as an enabler of payments and will remain tech agnostic when working with banking partners to ensure that new and emerging forms of payment authentication take place securely, conveniently and discreetly.”Security analysts have welcomed the findings.Robert Capps, VP of business development at NuData Security, said: “This study establishes that there is a strong desire on the part of consumers to have a secure user experience when interacting and transacting online. The desire, may not align with the reality of the situation. Physical biometrics such as fingerprints, selfies and voice authentication aren't fool proof, and there are challenges that may block widespread adoption in non-face-to-face interactions.The fact that 85% of respondents see banks as the most trusted institution in the provision of biometric authentication isn't surprising, given that they are part of the authentication lexicon, and solutions such as Apple's Touch ID have given consumers a glimmer of the future of biometrics, while delivering outstanding user experience. “Capps singled out behaviroual biometrics as having a big role to play as biometrics in banking evolves.He said” The true strength of behavioural biometrics is in providing trust. While the consumer trusts the fingerprint, or the voice print, retinal scan or any other visible security the bank may choose, that is what they see and how they feel – it's the guard at the door, if you will. Using passive and invisible behavioural biometrics (BB), the bank can also have full trust in their key objectives, protecting the user account and providing a good customer experience. In this way BB solutions can draw a straight line to a trust-trust relationship between banks and customers. “

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