More than 60 percent think sharing biometrics puts identity information at risk

More than three out of five consumers think that providing fingerprint or iris information with companies puts their personal identity information at risk, throwing a potential barrier in the way of biometric payment adoption, according to a survey commissioned by Transaction Network Services (TNS).

“Vital Insights into Biometric Payments Adoption” shows that 15 percent of adults in the U.S., UK, and Australia have made a biometric payment in the last year, and among those between 18 and 24 years old a quarter have done so. It also shows that more than two-thirds of consumers (68 percent) believe biometric payments will become more common in the next two to five years.

“It’s exciting to hear that more than half are willing to use the widening range of biometric identifiers available, which now includes iris and vein scanning, as well as facial recognition and fingerprints,” says TNS Fintech Solutions EMEA Managing Director Mark Collins. “Reassurance will be the key to ensuring that biometric payments achieve the successful future that our survey data suggests.”

U.S. adults expressed slightly greater confidence in biometric payments than when TNS conducted a similar survey two years ago.

Fingerprints are the most popular modality, but the second most popular varied according to region.

The market for payment security software is expected to grow by 16 percent through 2022, according to Technavio, while Juniper Research suggests that mobile biometrics will authenticate $2 trillion worth of payments by 2023.

Article Topics

biometric payments  |  biometrics  |  consumer adoption  |  data protection