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Biometrics to gain ground on passwords for apps

paco-garcia-1569497855

 

Paco Garcia talk to us about biometrics

Paco Garcia, Yoti

 

Biometrics is making inroads in the world of finance as banks such as RBS and HSBC trial the technology. The technology uses unique markers, such as fingerprints or iris patterns, to verify the identity of the user of a service. It could potentially eliminate more burdensome forms of access verification, like remembering passwords, replacing them with something more convenient and secure. QA-Financial.com spoke to Paco Garcia, CTO of Yoti, the London-based identity systems provider, about what makes biometrics an attractive alternative.

Q: How is biometric identification used in the financial services?

Recently we have seen several financial firms, such as Nationwide and HSBC, announce plans to use biometrics for identifying customers online. They are looking for alternatives to passwords in a bid to make customers’ lives easier and speed up the authentication process, while ensuring customer data stays safe. There is also the added benefit of cost-saving. Password administration is a real burden at the moment with data breaches and stolen passwords hitting the news every week. Finding an alternative method of authenticating identities is critical. By identifying consumers online, we will see a quicker on-boarding process. The days of having to go into a physical branch and show multiple paper identity documents simply to prove who you are are gone. Other major benefits for financial companies adopting biometric authentication are better fraud detection, identity management, audit trails, internal controls and, as a result of all of that, more trust from consumers. And due to the competitive pressure financial companies are under from digitally native, mobile experience focused newcomers, it’s no surprise they are adopting these new processes so quickly.

Q: What are the most popular biometric technologies?

Currently there is only one type of biometric in the mainstream consumer market – the fingerprint – due to Apple introducing Touch ID. However, other types are being trialled – facial and behavioural biometrics for example – and could grow in popularity once they hit the mainstream market. And of course, the more biometrics are talked about, on the news, by word of mouth, or on technology blogs, the more they will increase in acceptance and popularity.

Q: How are these systems tested once implemented and who is in charge of testing them?

It’s up to the system integrator to certify the implemented integrated biometric solution, and there are a number of third party labs that do it. In terms of performance, NIST [National Institute of Standards and Technology] is a good baseline for biometrics vendor performance, but it doesn’t cover all the different biometrics available and it sometimes takes years to update performance on the latest versions of biometric systems and their algorithms.

Q: What can bank customers expect from biometrics in the future?

Proving who you are simply by being you, online and in person. We’ll see a world where we can just take a selfie or use a fingerprint – no more showing multiple paper identity documents and having to remember long, complicated passwords or answer security questions. For financial services in particular, being able to meet banking compliance such as KYC and AML on a digital platform will offer consumers a seamless yet secure experience, and revolutionise the industry. Using multiple forms of authentication will become common. We’ve seen people go from using single authentication – a password – to using two factor authentication. The natural step is to move to a multi factor biometric approach. By moving on from just one method of authentication, companies can create a highly secure way for consumers to prove their identity – it’s going to be hard for a fraudster to copy your fingerprint, iris, voice and selfie. Companies dealing with highly sensitive data, such as the banks trialling the software, feel safe because of the many factors of authentication used.