Mastercard finds most Latin American and Caribbean consumers want biometric online payments

Millennials in Latin America and the Caribbean are driving regional e-commerce growth rates above 20 percent, and between 63 and 83 percent of consumers in various countries in the region say that biometrics are their preferred authentication method for online payments, according to a digital security white paper published by Mastercard.

Although it was the country with the fewest mentions of biometric technology, when asked if they agreed with a desire to use biometrics instead of passwords, fully two-thirds of respondents from Puerto Rico said yes. Further, more than 80 percent of consumers in many countries in the region say they want to use biometric authentication, according to the report “Examining the Latin American and Caribbean E-commerce Market.”

The current use of behavioral biometrics as a passive means of authentication by Mastercard Decision Intelligence is discussed in the white paper, along with the Mastercard Digital Enablement Service (MDES) and MDES for Merchants tokenization technology for transaction security.

Research by E-Marketer indicates online sales in Latin America and the Caribbean this year will reach $71.34 billion, with online purchases surpassing in-store purchases within three years. The most commonly used devices for online shopping are smartphones, which have penetration rates between 89 percent (Puerto Rico) and 97 percent (Argentina). This level of penetration, along with tablet ownership and use rates surpassing 50 percent in some countries, seems to indicate a high availability of native biometric authentication options.

Along with shopping, online authentication is critical for banking apps, which are used by more than 80 percent of respondents in several countries.

The main barrier to shopping online is not being able to see the product before purchasing it in many countries, but in others, a lack of trust is the main barrier, and security fears are also a barrier to a significant number of people.

Several companies have recently noted strong expectations for biometrics sales in the Latin America region, including Innovatrics and Ipsidy.

Article Topics

biometric identification  |  biometric payments  |  biometrics  |  Caribbean  |  digital identity  |  ecommerce  |  Latin America  |  Mastercard  |  online authentication