Behavioral biometrics and facial recognition to secure more bank accounts with FICO report showing attitude shift

Far more people in Britain are happy providing biometrics to banks for security purposes (71 percent) than are content with usernames and passwords for logging into bank apps (40 percent), according to new research from FICO. Their discomfort with usernames and passwords stands to reason, as more than 20 percent have between two and five reused for all financial accounts, while 1 in 20 have a single password for all.

Only 40 percent of respondents have a separate password for each financial account, but most say they are comfortable with other security protections. People in Britain are generally comfortable with their device settings being analyzed for security purposes (78 percent), and with behavioral biometrics (70 percent).

“Whilst our research was conducted just before the COVID-19 lock-down, the findings send a very clear message that UK consumers understand the greater security benefits of biometrics over passwords,” comments FICO Identity Solutions Expert Sarah Rutherford. “Since face-to-face interactions are likely to be reduced for some time to come, it is crucial for consumers and financial institutions to have mutual respect for the benefits biometrics deliver – not just for security but in terms of removing the delay and friction from financial transactions.”

When logging into a bank app, 48 percent said they would use a fingerprint scan, 25 percent said they would use a facial image, and 23 percent would enroll a voiceprint. Only 13 percent said banks should never collect biometrics.

Banks stand in contrast with governments in the survey, with more than 7 out of 10 saying they would rather provide a biometric to a bank than a government agency.

The annual Cybertech 100 list of companies that financial institutions should know for their security and fraud prevention capabilities has been released, with several biometrics companies making the list.

TypingDNA, ID R&D, and Jumio all appear among the 2020 Cybertech 100. The list is compiled by FinTech Global.

NatWest plans to replace passwords with behavioral biometrics

NatWest claims its behavioral biometrics can replace passwords for bank accounts, and it will be the first bank to test behavioral biometrics specifically for compliance to the Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) requirement of PSD2, having customized the technology in partnership with Visa.

The bank touts the technology as an extra layer of security working in the background of a transaction to deliver a seamless customer experience while ensuring a high degree of protection.

“We continue to explore biometrics and how they can be used to make payments easier and simpler for our customers,” comments NatWest Director of Strategy and Innovation Georgina Bulkeley. “The success of a pilot of this new technology demonstrates our ongoing commitment to developing innovative ways of enhancing customer experience while prioritising security.”

“Visa is committed to working with its partners to develop innovative technologies that remove friction for cardholders, increase security and satisfy regulatory requirements,” says Visa Managing Director for UK and Ireland Jeni Mundy. “Behavioural biometrics has already been deployed successfully for the purpose of fraud prevention, and now, following work between regulators and industry partners including Visa, has been approved as a second layer of security to be used alongside one-time passcodes in the context of Strong Customer Authentication.”

Visa plans to offer behavioral biometrics to its customers through its end-to-end authentication solution, VCAS.

NatWest’s work developing behavioral biometrics follows on its successful pilots of fingerprint biometric debit and credit cards.

Santander merchant platform to offer FacePhi biometrics in Argentina

FacePhi and partner Compusistem have reached a reseller agreement with Santander Group’s Santander Merchant Platform Solutions S.A. (SMPS) to consolidate the facial recognition company’s position in Argentina.

SMPS will offer SelphID digital onboarding technology to its customers to integrate with iOS and Android apps for secure payments.

Argentina is the country where FacePhi has its highest number of contracts in the LATAM region, and FacePhi signed up Santander Argentina earlier this year.

FacePhi CEO Javier Mira emphasized the growth in demand for biometric technology despite the global financial downturn, and said the deal with SMPS consolidates and strengthens the company’s position in Argentina which he says is “a fundamental country in our development strategy within Latin America.”

SelphID has been used for ID document and selfie biometric checks in more than six million onboardings so far.

Indian card issuer launches facial recognition video KYC checks

Indian credit-card issuer SBI Card has launched a new video process with facial recognition to complete know your customer (KYC) checks during onboarding, The News Strike reports.

The process entails filling out a PDF application form, a link is sent to the customer for the video KYC process, through which personal details including PAN Number and Aadhaar are shared. The call is then initiated with a dynamic verification code, and then during the call the PAN card is shown for a verification process with optical character recognition (OCR) and facial recognition to match against the applicant’s PAN and Aadhaar accounts.

SBI says the various measures make remote account opening more safe and secure than physical KYC processes.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the Video Customer Identification Process (V-CIP) and e-signing at the beginning of 2020 to ease remote financial account opening.

Article Topics

Argentina  |  banking  |  behavioral biometrics  |  biometrics  |  FacePhi  |  facial recognition  |  FICO  |  fraud prevention  |  identity verification  |  India  |  KYC  |  UK  |  Visa