Iris recognition edges fingerprint, face and palm biometrics for most willing use by UK consumers

Biometric iris or retina recognition is the modality with the highest number of people in the UK willing to use it, at 62 percent, according to a survey from Equifax, edging out fingerprint recognition (61 percent) and facial and palm recognition (57 percent each).

The online poll conducted by OnePoll, however, also shows that 54 percent have tried or even regularly used fingerprint biometrics, and 78 percent of 18 to 24-year olds have done so.

After face and palm recognition, voice recognition is palatable to 55 percent, 51 percent would use handwriting biometrics, and 49 percent would be willing to use DNA biometrics, followed by heartbeat recognition (45 percent) and keystroke recognition (44 percent) as the least popular forms of biometrics.

Only 32 percent say they have tried or regularly used facial biometrics for verification, and 29 percent say they have used voice recognition. The younger age group is also more likely to acknowledge having used voice recognition (43 percent).

“It’s encouraging to see a healthy openness to try new forms of identification verification. Biometric verification is safer and less fallible than traditional, knowledge-based verification, and its future development and success will be an important pillar in the fight against online financial fraud,” Equifax Head of ID & Fraud Keith McGill. “People will accept and adapt to technology that makes their lives easier and their finances more secure. However, developers, while making huge technological strides in their field, must be mindful of educating consumers on the inherent benefits biometric verification offer to build public trust and accelerate its mass adoption.”

A recent market report suggested iris recognition will grow at a healthy 18 percent CAGR from 2019 to 2024.

Equifax is among organizations pushing for biometric authentication to replace passwords in order to stem the flow of data breaches.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  consumer adoption  |  dna  |  ECG  |  Equifax  |  facial recognition  |  heartbeat biometrics  |  iris recognition  |  palm biometrics  |  palm recognition