Survey Finds Growing Public Support for Biometric Authentication in Financial Services

A new survey from MemberPass and the Filene Research Institute suggests that there is growing public support for biometric authentication practices in the financial services industry. More than two-thirds of the respondents indicated that they would be more willing to trust a provider that used biometric authentication to secure online and in-person transactions.

That trend was particularly stark amongst those who had been the victim of a financial crime. Half (51 percent) of the survey’s credit union members had dealt with identity theft, while 68 percent had experienced some form of credit or debit fraud. Those people expressed more interest in mobile biometric authentication, with 61 percent of those in the former group and 68 percent of those in the latter group indicating that they would use mobile biometrics to guard their own financial accounts.

The survey also confirmed that the majority of people have changed the way that they engage with their financial services provider in response to COVID-19. In that regard, 51 percent of bank customers and 68 percent of credit union members had switched to a new preferred contact method as a direct result of the pandemic.

The results are based on a survey of 1,028 American adults that was conducted between September 22 and 26, 2020.

“This survey confirms that there [is] a demand from consumers to upgrade security for financial interactions at credit unions,” said MemberPass Marketing and Communications SVP Julie Esser. “With MemberPass, credit unions can extend an extra level of security, trustworthiness and transparency with every transaction, allowing members to be in control of their identity while streamlining the authentication process.”

CULedger is the developer of the MyCUID digital credential, which leverages the biometric readers in standard smartphones to verify the identities of credit union customers. More recently, the Central Minnesota Credit Union installed biometric ATMs to deliver a contactless customer experience at physical branch locations.

The contactless MemberPass identity app is built with technology from the credit union service organization CULedger.

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October 29, 2020 – by Eric Weiss