More than four fifths of consumers (81%) worldwide are ready to use a biometric payment card and authenticate payments with their fingerprint rather than a PIN code, according to a survey commissioned by a biometric technology provider.

The survey — which was conducted across 14 countries — and also shows that 94% of consumers surveyed in Saudi Arabia, 92% in India, 88% in Brazil and 86% in South Africa feel ready to use fingerprint authentication for in-store payments compared with 73% in Australia, 70% in the UK and 69% in the US.

Almost three quarters of respondents (74%) also said that they have a positive attitude towards biometric technology with people from emerging economies (90%) and consumers aged under 49 (79%) being “the most enthusiastic about biometrics”.

It also found that 84% of those surveyed have used biometric authentication methods for tasks such as unlocking their smartphone, with 70% having used their fingerprint, 43% their face, 25% their voice and 17% their iris to verify their identity.

“As biometric usage spreads across the planet and consumers continue to warm to the idea of streamlined, hassle free — yet totally secure — authentication, use cases will proliferate,” says the report’s commissioner, Idemia.

“For example, 51% of global consumers would like to use a biometric card to gain access to a secured building and 34% want to see this technology integrated into their transportation pass.”

– NFCW –

Some 65.5% of US consumers would pay for a biometric credit card that has a built-in fingerprint reader for authenticating payments, according to a survey of American credit card users.

It also found that 60.2% of respondents would prefer to pay a one-time fee of US$69.95 that covers the whole three-year lifetime of a biometric card, while 39.7% would prefer a monthly payment of US$8.95 that includes identity theft insurance.

“Interesting for card issuing banks is that the consumer research is showing that bank customers are willing to pay for a biometric credit card,” says SmartMetric, the biometric technology provider that commissioned the survey.

“This is based on the consumer’s desire to have a safer technology that aids in protecting against card fraud. For bank card customers, the concern of card fraud goes well beyond the financial loss they may or may not experience.

“Card customers find the whole experience of having their financial safety violated unpleasant. It is a logical as well as an emotional reaction by consumers.

“The sense of violation along with the general concern for their financial safety is the main driving force as to why the research is showing so many existing card customers are willing to pay for a biometric card,” the firm adds.

“For card issuing banks, they also are advantaged by the increased security offered by biometric credit and debit cards, while at the same time being able to turn their cards into a revenue-generating new source of income, making the credit card a new consumer device in its own right.”

Source: NFCW

The number of consumers using software-based facial recognition to authenticate payments worldwide will reach 1.4 billion by 2025, up from 671 million in 2020, according to a forecast by Juniper Research.

The analysts say that the predicted growth “demonstrates how widespread facial recognition has become; fuelled by its low barriers to entry, a front-facing camera and appropriate software”.

They add that “despite the challenges to facial recognition during the pandemic with face mask use”, the implementation of Face ID by Apple has accelerated the wider facial recognition market.

The ‘Mobile Payment Authentication: Biometrics, Regulation and Market Forecasts 2021-2025’ research also predicts that while 93% of biometrically-enabled smartphones will be equipped with fingerprint sensors, only 17% will have hardware-based facial recognition capabilities by 2025.

In addition, it forecasts that the number of people using voice recognition for payments will increase from 111 million in 2020 to more than 704 million in 2025, but adds that voice recognition “is mostly used in banking, and will struggle to grow beyond this, due to concerns around robustness”.

– NFCW –

The card will use fingerprint recognition to verify the identities of card holders and will be accepted at Mastercard payment terminals.

The sensor will be embedded on the device and will negate the need for a PIN when authorising purchases. Mastercard aims to leverage its cybersecurity expertise and global payments network to boost cardholder security via this biometric solution.

The card will first be launched in South Korea and will be initially offered to corporate clients that have more frequent international transactions. Samsung will begin issuing corporate cards to South Korean customers later in 2021.

– Thepaypers –

NEXT Biometrics (Oslo Bors: NEXT), a global leader in fingerprint sensor technology, today announced the company is joining with MK Group to launch an R&D program for biometric smart cards for banking and other applications. The program will integrate NEXT’s large-area fingerprint sensors into MK Group’s next generation smart card products. Vietnam-based MK Group is the leading provider of smart cards and digital security solutions for financial, telecommunication and retail enterprises in Vietnam and one of the largest in South East Asia.