UK consumers increasingly prefer biometric authentication

New research has shown that biometrics is quickly becoming the preferred method of authentication among British consumers.

A report from Mastercard/University of Oxford report, has found that more and more of us across the UK are happy to use biometric security processes such as iris scans or fingerprint authentication. The news has been welcomed by Fujitsu, which has been at the forefront of biometric development for some time.

Commenting on the report, Anthony Duffy, the company's director of retail banking, UK and Ireland at Fujitsu, says the findings show that biometrics are "coming of age."

"Biometric solutions have been used overseas for many years, with Brazilian, Japanese and Turkish banks all using Fujitsu biometric solutions to support day-to-day banking transactions. However, it is only recently that British banks have started to deploy the technology on a significant scale," he says.

Duffy believes one of the reasons for an increased acceptance in biometrics is the fact that both Android and iOS are using fingerprint scanners to unlock the devices. "As the technology goes from new to familiar, there’s a natural acceptance and understanding, which breaks down previous barriers to entry."

Duffy adds that financial institutions, such as banks, are always looking to boost their security and improve their customer service. He believes biometric solutions offer both.

"The reliability, security and accuracy of biometrics make them ideal for banking. Add to that the widespread adoption of biometrics on mobile devices, and it’s clear the technology is set to flourish. Consequently, at Fujitsu, we believe that the use of biometrics in banking is something we will see much more of in coming years."

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