Wells Fargo is launching a new innovation team, and its leader is excited about biometric technology. As a Forbes article notes, Steve Ellis, who pioneered the bank’s single sign-on system 15 years ago, “sees a big opportunity” in use of the technology.
Of course, it’s too early to say exactly how Ellis’ excitement or his team’s efforts will play out. He says it’s going to be “a small team” that will look into a variety of R&D avenues while also developing proofs of concepts and some prototypes or pilot projects. Ellis also asserts that Wells Fargo will reach out to forge partnerships with startups as well as more established Silicon Valley entities to help foster innovation. The key, driving focus will be customer service.
That helps to explain Ellis’ excitement about biometrics, as such technology is already being leveraged by a number of financial services companies to help improve customer satisfaction. And to some degree excitement about biometrics is institutional at Wells Fargo; the company has invested in EyeVerify’s eye vein technology, and has also revealed plans for biometric authentication on its CEO Mobile app. Moreover, late last year the company joined the FIDO Alliance, which champions biometric technology as an effective and secure alternative to archaic password systems – a position that Wells Fargo increasingly seems to share.
Source: Forbes
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July 29, 2015 – by Alex Perala
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