Biometrics growing now in airports, soon in payments and age estimation

Near-future biometric payments, and government digital identity initiatives in the UK and Congo make up several of the most widely-read stories of the week on Biometric Update. Investment continues in the airport space, where deployments of biometrics from Pangiam, Idemia, SITA and NEC and even a small issue for Clear illustrate the health of that market segment. Age estimation also appears near ready to open up as a market.

Top biometrics news of the week

Biometric SIM card registration in the Philippines is progressing, with nearly 15 million sign-ups in the first nine days of the project. The other 91 percent of mobile subscribers have until April 26 to register. A consumer and development advocacy group, meanwhile, wants PhilID issuance to speed up, and for the digital ID to be linked to SIMs to make it the linkage easier for people.

Remember cheques? Cash is headed the same way in the UK, according to a new payments survey from Mastercard. Digital wallets and biometrics will help make up the difference. Accenture finds that over $110 million in payments could be made with biometrics within the next two years, just in the UK.

Jumio is rumored to have cut more than 100 people from its global workforce, and admitted a 6 percent reduction in headcount to Biometric Update in an email. A company statement attributes the move to the effects of Covid and the current economic climate, but also says Jumio remains positioned for growth.

A consultation has been launched by the UK Cabinet Office as it considers how departments should share data so that the One Login digital identity can be reused across government portals. A legislative proposal would enable data sharing by four new departments, and open up government datasets for identity verification by those who do not possess a traditional ID.

DHS S&T wants developers of solutions for ID document and selfie biometrics and liveness checks to join its evaluation of the state of the art, beginning this March. More than 80 technology providers have expressed interest in the Remote Identity Validation Technology Demonstration at MdTF already.

Delta Airlines has rolled its airport face biometrics services for speedy, touchless customer journeys, which use Pangiam technology, together with its in-flight entertainment and personalization services as a single platform. The new Delta Sync features big-name partners and was on display at CES 2023. CUbox and Incheon International also brought biometrics to the show.

CES also featured biometrics for pets, courtesy Petnow, in a reflection of another trend, in which the technology is applied to identify individual animals. Canadian scientists are using facial recognition developed for primates to track seals, like Australian researchers and conservationists are doing with sea dragons. With 44 percent of livestock farmers facing theft in some areas, cow facial recognition may also have a market.

Not quite like the smart airports market though, which is pegged to hit $8.3 billion in the next four years, according to a new report. Biometrics deployments by Idemia in Australia and SITA and NEC in Philadelphia and Turkey demonstrate current growth, while Brazil reports big drops in passenger wait times with the technology.

Clear enrolled a small number of its subscribers with in-person, manual identity verification, which caught the attention of legislators, and prompted the TSA to ask for them to be re-enrolled. Just under 49,000 out of 14 million Clear members, or 0.3 percent, are affected.

Congo Brazzaville is planning the legal and regulatory framework for its civil register, ID documents and identity services, and is seeking consultants for a four month-long analysis of the current situation. The program is supported by the World Bank, and the deadline for expressions of interest is Wednesday.

The results of age estimation trails in the UK are in, and the British Retail Consortium is citing them in calls to change the law to allow the technology’s production deployment. A Yoti spokesperson tells Biometric Update that the trials were a huge success, and that participating retailers also support a change to allow digital age verification.

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Article Topics

age verification  |  biometric authentication  |  biometric identification  |  biometric payments  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  face biometrics  |  facial recognition  |  identity verification  |  week in review