Finger, ear & voice authentication to become more mainstream

Results from the report indicate that a number of high-profile deployments of biometric authentication techniques would drive wider adoption, highlighting Apple's combination of Touch ID authentication with tokenisation in NFC payments.

'Human Interface & Biometric Technologies: Emerging Ecosystems, Opportunities & Forecasts 2014-2019' also suggests that fingerprint authentication would account for the overwhelming majority of such apps in the medium term, driven by increasing deployment of fingerprint scanners within mid-range smartphones.

However, other forms of biometric identification that do not require embedded hardware are also emerging, such as Descartes Biometrics’ ERGO ear print biometric authentication app and Nuance’s voice authentication service.

A key benefit of biometrics identified by the report was its capability to enhance accessibility by reducing rejection rates of authentication systems. It argued that biometric applications can improve the user experience by making it low friction and easy for the consumer to make transactions. The report also claimed that as consumers seek to reduce the likelihood of their social media profiles being hacked, service providers such as Facebook may turn to facial scanning to add value through increased authentication security.

However, the report cautioned that there was a real need to reassure consumers of the security of biometric technologies over alphanumeric authentication and warned that significant public education would be necessary for this potential of the technologies to be realised.