Indian consumers are keen to use biometrics like fingerprint, facial and voice recognition for authentication, over traditional passwords or PINs, a report by digital payments major Visa has found.

In a survey, Visa found that biometric authentication for payments are seen as more secure than passwords/PINs (48% of respondents) and that it gives consumers peace of mind that their payment is protected (46%). Also, many said biometrics are faster (81%) and easier to use (84%) than passwords. However, 51% said they are concerned about the risk of a security breach of sensitive biometric information.

Visa stated that biometrics are convenient options over conventional methods like passwords or PINs “which are difficult to type onto tiny keyboards, easy to forget, and can be stolen”, the report said.

“The payments ecosystem is witnessing a rapid change in adoption of new form factors of payments and modes of authentication,” Visa India and South Asia Group Country Manager TR Ramachandran said.

He said smartphones today have advanced features increasing the accuracy and speed of biometrics, such that they can be used for financial transactions.

“Indian consumers too have discovered the ease of biometric authentication and are open to using this technology for transactions going forward, which augurs well for the Indian payments industry,” he stated.

Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi urged the Centre to utilise facial recognition technique to trace missing children, and asked the authorities to not delay the same citing the excuse that it’s a costly affair. He delivered a lecture at the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj in Hyderbad on Tuesday.

“Of the 1.25 lakh children missing in the country, about 1 lakh are living in homes run for children across the country. They have not been identified and put in a database,” he said. “If the technology is used, many of them living in orphanages might be recognised when compared with the list of missing children and can be returned to families.”

While the Centre has been delaying the usage of the technology citing its cost, the Supreme Court has already suggested that unused hundreds of crores in Nirbhaya Funds be utilised for the purpose.
Speaking on the Protection of Children From Sexual Offences Act, Satyarthi said that about 94 per cent of cases filed under the Act are pending in courts.

“In most cases, the abused child might become a senior citizen by the time justice is delivered,” he said, adding that exclusive courts are needed at district levels to deal with POCSO cases. He has recommended the same to government. He has also recommended the formation of an exclusive tribunal to deal with POCSO cases on the lines of the National Green Tribunal.

“A committee should be formed at national level with sub-committees in States. It should be a quasi-judicial body headed by a former Chief Justice of India and other Supreme Court judges who have experience in child rights issues,” he said.

Satyarthi also said that he had submitted to the Ministry of Human Resources Development that age-appropriate sex education and lessons on child rights should be part of the school curriculum so that the students are empowered to protect themselves.

– newindianexpress –

A new survey of shoppers has found that the overwhelming majority are open to fingerprint authenticated purchases.

According to research by Worldpay, while 63% of consumers want to be able to use biometric scans to authenticate payments when shopping, 69% said they would be most open to using their fingerprints.

In the survey, almost a quarter of consumers said they would be comfortable paying for goods by facial recognition, 33% were happy to pay by iris recognition and 18% said they would feel comfortable paying by voice recognition in store.
James Frost, chief marketing officer of Worldpay, said this adoption of technology was more about consumer convenience than anything else. “Suddenly it isn’t so scary any more,” he said.

“Yes, it may be more secure, but actually if that means the purchasing experience is just that much more slick and that much quicker, then people are willing to embrace it.”

But as technology begins to creep into the retail world, there are still some instances where consumers would prefer to interface with a person rather than an artificial intelligence (AI) or a robot.

Whereas older customers would like to pay a person at the end of a shopping experience, younger consumers are more comfortable using automated payment methods to speed up the final step of the retail experience.

Only 13% of people in the survey said they do not interact with employees in a store, 37% said they want to be able to talk to a store employee if they need something, and 35% said that if a store employee is good, they can improve the in-store experience.

A very small percentage said they do not feel shop staff are helpful or knowledgeable about products, and 10% said they would prefer to use technology for self-service.

“There is still a really critical role for store employees – we’re not going to be dealing exclusively with robots in the future,” said Frost. “People still do want to be able to speak to a human being if they have a question.”

Source: http://www.planetbiometrics.com/

British people look to security measures more than rates when choosing banks, and biometrics is their preferred authentication method, finds a new survey.

In the survey by specialist lender and savings bank Aldermore, 88% of those surveyed say interest rates are important when choosing a savings provider, slightly ahead of the amount of people who say good customer service is important, 86%.

When it comes to seeking higher returns in a low interest rate environment, nearly one in five (19%) 18-34 year olds would consider riskier savings and investment products which offer higher rates of returns but less protection, compared to only 5% of over-55s.

Across the UK, two thirds (66%) of respondents would not consider using a savings provider that is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), despite the opportunity to benefit from higher interest rates on their savings.

According to the research, the biggest concern for over a third (35%) of people is the threat of direct theft through online hacking.

When asked what would help consumers trust their bank or savings provider more when it comes to security, nearly nine in ten (89%) say they want to see further investment in security technology and 88% want their bank or savings provider to regularly update its security procedures. In addition to this, nearly six in ten (57%) would trust their bank or savings provider more if it offered biometric authentication.

– Planetbiometrics –

May 18, 2017 – Iris ID is providing biometric identification technology at Qatar’s Hamad International Airport in Dohato, enabling travelers to pass through self-service security e-gates in as little as 10 seconds.