Visa research reveals more consumers adopting biometric solutions

Credit card firm Visa recently released new research which shows that biometrics are reaching mainstream use as retailers and consumers are increasingly adopting the technology, according to a report by Essential Retail.

Consumers are increasingly embracing biometric technologies such as face recognition and fingerprint authentication within the retail environment, the study finds.

Natasha Toothill, head of merchant services at Visa, said that consumers were previously skeptical about biometrics.

However, with technologies like face recognition being adopted by airports, the majority of online shoppers believe the technology is an effective way of removing points of friction and expediting the process.

“Customers were initially unwilling to have face recognition in retail but now that it is used by airports it is being accepted more,” Toothill said. “There are also hotels using face recognition to identify VIP guests and some retailers using it to spot shoplifters.”

Toothill cited survey results which show that 73 percent of people have as much confidence in fingerprinting as chip and PIN methods.

In addition, 68 percent of respondents chose biometrics as their preferred method of authentication.

Visa Europe is set to launch their latest version of Verified by Visa, a payment method that uses fingerprint recognition to identify and authenticate consumers online.

“It will be used for in-app purchases because we recognize that we need to improve the customer experience,” said Toothill.

Previously reported, Visa is testing and refining a range of behavioral biometric technologies including voice recognition and ambient authentication, in preparation for the next generation of social payment.

Article Topics

biometric authentication  |  biometric payments  |  biometrics  |  Visa