Study finds India leading world in biometric technology adoption

HSBC published a new research report entitled ‘Trust in Technology’, which found that people in Asia and the Middle East are ahead of Western countries when it comes to the adoption of biometric technologies due to greater understanding and optimism instilling more trust, according to a report by Tech Observer.

Based on a survey of more than 12,000 people in 11 countries, the report found that trust and adoption of new technology varies greatly around the world with the Eastern region overtaking the West.

The report found that trust in technology and its adoption are driven not only by consumer trends, but also by wider governmental support.

For example, the Indian government first launched the Aadhaar biometric identification program in 2009, which likely helped contribute to Indian citizens being three times more likely to have used iris recognition technology to identify themselves compared to the global average (9 percent compared to 3 percent).

The report found that Eastern countries have shown an accelerated adoption of fingerprint recognition. People in China (40 percent) are leading in fingerprint adoption, followed by citizens in India (31 percent) and the UAE (25 percent).

Meanwhile, only 9 percent of people in France and Germany and 14 percent of people in Canada have used fingerprint technology to identify themselves.

The report found that regular use of traditional technology is most common in the West, with people in France being the most attached to passwords and the least likely (37 percent) to replace it with a more secure fingerprint identification.

In comparison, 46 percent of the people in Hong Kong and 56 percent of the people in China are likely to replace passwords with fingerprint identification.

“Consumers living in countries in the East seem to have a better understanding and greater trust of emerging technology and how it can benefit their lives,” said Ramakrishnan S, head of retail banking and wealth management at HSBC India. “The speed of change and the insatiable rate of adoption put the likes of India, China and the UAE leaps ahead of most Western markets. In the case of India, a national mindset of openness coupled with government support for the rollout and promotion of new technology has had a transformative effect on the nation.”

Article Topics

Aadhaar  |  biometrics  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  India  |  iris recognition