Body of evidence: biometrics scales up

Deep Dive 8: The financial market especially is seeing greater penetration of biometric technologies as security managers implement them as part of a multilayered security strategy.

As part of our 2019 Deep Dive series, we explore the world of biometrics. Stay tuned in the lead-up to Security 2019 for the trends affecting the different sectors.

These technologies include fingerprint scanning, facial recognition and voice recognition. Biometrics is being applied to electronic access control systems, smart CCTV cameras, smartphones and automatic teller machines.

For example, Australia and New Zealand banking Group (ANZ) introduced voice recognition for customer identification and authentication in April 2017. It allows customers to use their voice to transfer amounts of more than $1000 through ANZ apps.

National Australia Bank is also innovating for greater customer protection. The bank has revealed details of a new project to develop facial-recognition technology for customers using ATMs. The collaboration with tech giant Microsoft will allow NAB customers to withdraw cash from ATMs without the use of a credit card.

Biometric technologies have also made a big splash in the retail sector and are proving useful in preventing identify fraud. This is mainly being facilitated by the use of smartphones. For example, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Pay, as well as Visa and MasterCard have added some form of biometric verification to their payment systems in Australia.

Australia Post now has Digital iD, an app that uses thumbprint verification for advanced customer verification. Some Australian Government departments, such as the Australian Taxation Office are also using biometric verification in the form of voice-recognition technology.

Australian consumers have proven to be quick adopters. A Deloitte consumer survey shows Australians make an estimated 100 million imprints a day using smartphone fingerprint scanners.

Trending among security innovators is how businesses can take a broad systems view when assessing the performance of biometric systems.

Biometric technologies – including single and multifactor authentication solutions like fingerprint, iris, palm, face, vein, signature and voice – will be among the technologies showcased at the 2019 Security Exhibition & Conference.

Read the previous Deep Dive: Stop thieves: EAS makes a splash

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