UK consumers eye up iris scanning for banking biometrics

Samsung Pay Iris
EYE SPY: Iris recognition technology is gaining approval among UK consumers

Iris scanning technology has overtaken fingerprinting as the biometric security measure most UK consumers would consider using, with more than a third saying they would be more likely to use a bank that offers biometric security, a survey from software provider Intelligent Environments has found.

The Future Password Index study of 2,000 British consumers in October showed 60% saying they would consider using iris scanning compared to 33% in 2014.

The proportion of those most interested in using fingerprint scanning rose from 53% two years ago to 57% in 2016.

It found consumer demand for all biometric security measures has soared since 2014, but also revealed more than a quarter believed their bank could do more to protect their data from hackers and online fraudsters.

Meanwhile, fingerprinting came out top in terms of use, with 13% saying they already use it, but adoption rates for all other forms of biometric authentication remained at less than 4%.

Among the findings were:

  • 37% are likely to be swayed by quality of security measures when choosing who to bank with;
  • 29% say they would be more likely to use a bank that offers biometric security;
  • 45% would like to use biometric tools to access their bank account;
  • 37% say they would consider using vein verification technology.

“Given the clamour for biometrics amongst consumers, those banks who seize the moment and are able to introduce biometric security measures across the board are likely to attract new customers,” says Clayton Locke, chief technology officer at Intelligent Environments.

“Over the coming decade, biometrics and security more broadly will undoubtedly become a key battleground within the banking industry where we are likely to see some of the more innovative banks steal a march on their rivals.”

More than two thirds (68%) of European consumers surveyed in the summer said they wanted to use biometrics as a method of payment authentication, but more than twice as many preferred fingerprinting to iris recognition methods.

India’s Yes Bank announced earlier this month it had partnered with Lastmile.mobi to develop a biometric point-of-sale terminal using iris scanning technology.

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