The Need for Biometrics in Financial Services and Banking

Biometric identification technology is projected to become a vital and strategic aspect of financial service security platforms, thanks to the rising digitization of banking services and the ongoing need to adopt stronger customer and employee identification protocols to avoid identity theft and fraud.

With the increasing adoption rate of sophisticated transactional technology and the unfortunate growth in fraud and security breaches due to reliance on old security systems such as passwords, the need for a stronger authentication solution has become paramount in financial services.

Biometric Technology in Banking and Financial Services

Biometrics in financial services are computer-assisted methods of identifying clients based on biological characteristics and qualities, such as fingerprints, finger vein patterns, iris recognition, and voice recognition.

As biometric traits are unique to each person and difficult to fabricate, biometric verification and authentication are widely used in immigration control, law enforcement, and forensic studies. Many banks worldwide are using biometrics in banking and financial services, and as many as 47% of banks use fingerprints in their financial dealings.

Ways to Implement Biometrics in Financial Services

In mobile banking and ATMs, biometric technology is gradually replacing traditional passwords and token-based electronic, signature-based branch service, and PIN-based access. Here are some examples of how banks might employ biometric technology to improve banking services and secure consumer assets.

Internet Banking: Many computers, laptops, and even smartphones now include webcams, microphones, and fingerprint scanners, giving banks the ability to use fingerprint, finger vein, facial, and voice recognition for biometric verification in online banking services. Some banks now ask users to produce a biometric credential before they may access their accounts.

To make authentication stronger, some banks require biometric authentication in addition to the usual password, or multi-factor authentication. This aids financial organizations in protecting consumer identities from cyber fraudsters and others attempting to illegally obtain sensitive consumer information in order to commit fraud.

Banking ATMs: In developed countries, using biometrics in banking ATMs is common, and the acceptance rate is rapidly increasing. Customers can be authenticated at the ATM using only biometrics and a bank card or a PIN in addition to biometric authentication. As a result, facial recognition, fingerprints, finger vein patterns, and iris recognition are the most appropriate biological modalities for ATMs since they can be easily confirmed in this setting. Additionally, these biometrics have other benefits such as flexibility, compactness, and accuracy.

Branch Banking: In banking, financial service firms use fingerprint and finger vein biometrics for customer identification in their branches since these two biometric authentication technologies provide quick results that are acceptable for a bank's busiest branches. Furthermore, fingerprint and vein systems are user-friendly, simple to operate, and provide reliable security.

Customers can be validated at the branch counter using fingerprint and finger vein biometric scanners that match the customer's existing biometric template in the bank database. Following successful authentication, the consumer can proceed with their banking transactions.

Single Sign-On Solution: Network security and data breaches are a global problem for banks and financial organizations. Biometric single sign-on (SSO) solutions for password management, identity management, data, and network security, and two-factor authentication are simple to implement on a bank's network.

This method will safeguard both banks and consumers from unwanted access and data breaches by eliminating insecure passwords and gaps in a bank's data security system. A biometric SSO system will also help to reduce additional security concerns and regulatory fees for government compliance.

Benefits of Biometrics in Financial Services

Benefits to Employees: Employees benefit from biometrics in financial services because they provide more secure and user-friendly individual identification based on unique biometric traits such as:

• Fast, safe, and user-friendly authentication
• A concrete audit trail of transaction history
• Quick branch banking

Benefits to Customers: Customers expect secure banking systems that safeguard their personal information. Biometric identification answers the call by providing banks with the most precise and secure customer identification technology available. Also, it provides benefits like:

• Increased convenience
• Secure ATM customer identification
• Secure mobile banking

Benefits to Banks: To avoid identity theft and fraud, biometric identification technology is an essential and vital component of financial sector security platforms.

• Secure mobile banking app authentication
• Reduced security breaches
• Protection against fraud
• Identity theft prevention

Biometric Solutions for Financial Services

Imageware delivers two-factor (2FA) and multi-factor biometric user authentication for Apple iOS, Android, PCs, Macs, Linux, and other systems. Users and organizations can choose from a variety of 2FA techniques, including phone-as-a-token, secure push notification (e.g., yes/no), and PIN, as well as biometrics like face, voice, fingerprint, iris, and palm.

Conclusion
Biometrics in banking, according to analysts, has a promising future. With so many alternatives for biometrics identification, banks must make a decision. Biometrics, according to studies, will become the primary identity authentication system for banking and financial institutions in the next decade, providing banks with the best level of security conceivable.