Mobile commerce could lead to biometrics boom by 2025

• Contactless transactions utilizing an aspect of biometric authentication is predicted to increase by over 520% in the time between 2020 and 2025.
• Just last year alone, biometrics authenticated over US$404 billion of payment transactions.

Biometric technology – which literally uses your face and fingerprints to verify your identity – is set to peak by 2025 after recording a staggering 650% growth last year, amid the rise of remote working worldwide.

The boom would be lead by consumers’ continuous shift towards app-based mobile e-commerce, new research has predicted. The latest estimates from Juniper Research claim that biometrics such as fingerprint, iris, voice, and facial recognition, should authenticate over US$3 trillion of payment transactions by 2025. Last year the figure was just US$404 billion.

The research firm stated that consumers are looking for easier ways to pay, both online and in-store, with contactless options being favored by many since the coronavirus pandemic. OEM Pays including Apple Pay and Samsung Pay that have been offering the functionality, are the contributing factor in the demand for biometrics. 

However, those using biometric functionality for actual e-commerce payments are only expected to be around 35% despite the fact that biometric capability is expected to be available on around 95% of all smartphones by 2025.

The study found that stored card-on-file payment could still be the preferred method for those shopping online. Juniper’s figures highlight e-commerce outlets will have to look closely at investing in systems that will be able to process biometrically-secured methods. 

“The study validates that mobile devices are now an integral and essential part of our daily lives, impacting almost every aspect of our social and professional interactions. Biometrics, fingerprint & iris, voice, and facial recognition technologies make processing services and transactions more convenient, but at the cost of our fundamental ‘right to be forgotten,” Lookout’s security engineer Burak Agca said.

Biometrics in mobile commerce

While the technology is not completely failsafe, its integrity is high and it’s convenient for its users– with Face ID, for example, customers only have to glance at their device for access.

 

Biometric technology has been specifically gaining popularity in the payment cards industry over the last decade and it has proven beneficial for consumers in various ways includes being highly secure as compared to prevailing PIN codes and for its seamless and almost instant process of payment authorization. 

Both consumers and businesses will reap their share of benefits with contactless biometric payment cards. Just as consumers demand card and contactless payments rather than an overreliance on cash, businesses who don’t embrace this new payment technology might see customers vote with their feet