The global biometric POS terminals market will grow at a rate of 26 percent (CAGR) between 2016 and 2020, according to new research from Technavio.
Increasingly sophisticated hack attacks are the major factor in the market’s growth, according to the firm’s new report. Explaining the findings in a statement, Technavio lead research analyst Soumya Mutsuddi points to the use of so-called ‘skimmers’, which steal the payment card data recorded on swipe-based terminals (and thus helping to promote the shift to EMV technology); and RAM scrapers, which enable hackers to gain remote access to the card data stored in POS databases.
Biometric payment authentication technologies help to counteract these threats, according to Technavio. Mutsuddi asserts that last year fingerprint and palm vein scanners proved to be the most popular modalities deployed in POS terminals, taking 85 percent and 15 percent of the total marketshare respectively. Fingerprint scanners have proven particularly popular because they “are easy to use and install,” Mutsuddi said.
Still, other modalities are on the horizon. One could argue that mainstream fingerprint payment authentication was first pioneered on mobile via systems like Apple’s Touch ID, and if the modality is now starting to grow popular on POS terminals, we may see a similar trend play out with respect to the increasingly popular eye-based biometrics used on smartphones. For now, though, fingerprints are driving the trend, and helping to familiarize consumers with biometric authentication in general in the process.
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April 7, 2016 – by Alex Perala
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