Ant Financial has rolled out the world's first commercial application of a payment system that identifies payers using facial recognition technology; starting from September 1, a KFC restaurant in Hangzhou allows customers to authenticate their payments by having their faces scanned; the whole process, which takes about ten seconds, does not require users to take out their cell phones; the function is powered by Face ++ technology developed by Beijing startup Megvii. Source
Bank of America has struck a partnership with Samsung to start a pilot program that will allow Bank of America customers to login using a picture of their eye; the program will start with a group of 1,500 Samsung and Bank of America employees who will test the authentication for six months; according to a past report by American Banker, about half of Bank of America customers login to the mobile app using their fingerprint and the other half login with a username and password; according to Finovate, Samsung debuted this iris scanning technology at their Unpacked event in March and they claim it to be more secure than fingerprint scans. Source
As more and more countries begin implementing biometric technology at their borders, banks are also beginning to use fingerprint analysis and retina scans to verify identities; Canada has used their NEXUS program to track travelers and India has used the Aadhaar program to identify their population; banks have begun testing out these technologies to see what fits their customer best: fingerprints, retina or facial recognition; with the new technology still comes age old issues of theft; stealing a fingerprint then changing it can happen just like the changing of a password; banks are still trying to figure out how to address the new technology and learning lessons from border patrol is one way for them to ensure the best solution. Source
With apologies to Marc Andreesson who famously said several years ago that software is eating the world, I think that...
BioCatch tracks the behavior of users on websites to gauge whether they are a real customer or a fraudster; they...
Amazon is currently in the early stages of building a new checkout terminal for coffee shops, fast-food restaurants and other...
Biometrics testing and utilization increased substantially in 2016; Eyeprint ID provides market implementation details from 2016 on fingerprint, face recognition, voice recognition, eyeprint and multi-biometric strategies; the firm predicts biometrics will go beyond mobile in 2017 with use in a broader range of banking activities; also predicts improved security and user experience from biometric authentication. Source
Last week there was a call from 40 consumer advocacy groups that facial recognition technology should be banned, starting with...
French casino and hotel business, Groupe Partouche, has partnered with MeReal Biometrics for use of the company's smart cards; the smart cards from MeReal Biometrics are a featured product at the Web Summit this week; employees of Groupe Partouche will begin using the fingerprint identity cards in select locations and expansion is expected to more locations and guests if successful. Source
French bank BNP Paribas, along with Daon, has developed a new biometric login for their wealth management clients using their mobile device; the new service is called myBioPass and it allows users to login using a selfie; transactions are then authorized by fingerprint or voice recognition; the service is currently active for Luxembourg clients using iOS mobile devices; myBioPass will be added to desktops and Android devices later this year. Source