Mobile biometric authentication - will it replace today’s passwords?

From Mobile Payments Today –

“We use passwords constantly to log into dozens of systems and services every single day. And as the number of systems and services we subscribe to grows, the more we have to remember.

According to a study from Cyber Streetwise, the average consumer in the U.K. needs to recall 19 passwords on a regular basis for desktop and network logins, email, social networks, e-commerce and banking. As the number of online services increases, so too does the complexity of the passwords as users now often are prompted for alphanumeric combinations while also being mandated to change passwords on a regular basis.

While this process is frustrating, authenticating consumers quickly and securely is critical to all industries, none more so than financial institutions. The challenge is to guarantee effective security without harming the user experience.

Consumers demand a balance between security and simplicity. This is where the use of biometrics comes into the picture by providing faster, easier and more robust authentication in a seamless way.”

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8 Hot Mobile Banking Security Developments

From Bank Systems and Technology –

“Integrated biometrics and specialized mobile banking apps are working in tandem to bring two major benefits to financial institutions and their customers.”

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Canada; Royal Bank to test ‘pay with your wrist’ technology

From MBN

“Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is going to pilot test a ‘pay with your wrist’ technology called Nymi which identifies the customer’s unique heartbeat and allows credit card payments to go ahead.

The wristband, developed by Bionym, a Toronto-based developer of biometric and authentication technologies and applications for consumer electronics, looks very much like a watch. The device will be worn and tested by 250 RBC customers and employees. The pilot trial will continue until February 2015.

The aim is to eventually roll out the RBC PayBand (Nymi Band) to all its customers across Canada.

Jeremy Bornstein, head of RBC’s payments innovation operations, says his company has been considering wearable space for quite some time.”

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Give Apple your fingerprint? It's your call

From CNN

“Using your fingerprint to identify yourself seems beguilingly simple: it belongs only to you, and you aren't going to lose it. Apple's use of fingerprint technology - although not the first in the industry - seems very in tune with its ethos of making devices easy to use.

However, how safe fingerprint technologies really are does depend on how they are implemented. You might ask, is my fingerprint stored, who else can access it? Can the government demand that Apple hand my fingerprints to them, or use Apple to identify criminals from their database?”

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Bionym Wristband Authenticates Using Wearer's Heartbeat

From American Banker

“As banks struggle to improve online and mobile authentication for their customers, a Canadian startup called Bionym revealed Tuesday a line of devices designed to confirm people's identities with their heartbeat. The hardware, which the user wears on his wrist like a watch, should make unlocking bank accounts a simple matter.

Nymi, the name of the wristband, verifies people are who they say they are by taking an electrocardiogram (ECG), which is a recording and interpretation of the bioelectrical activity of the heart.”

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The 8-character password is no longer secure

From Deloitte CIO Journal

“More than 90 percent of user-generated passwords are vulnerable to hacking. Inadequate password protection can lead to billions of dollars in losses, declining confidence in Internet transactions, and significant damage to the attacked company's reputation. Today's eight-character password is simply no longer good enough.”

Startup Prepares Alternative to Online, Mobile Banking Passwords

“As banks struggle to move past passwords, a Silicon Valley startup is taking a stab at a fingerprint and facial recognition standard backed by some heavy hitters — PayPal and Lenovo among them.”

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Biometric Banking Bridges India's Financial Gap

“As a country with a massive population spread throughout urban and rural populations, India houses an enormous population of the financially underserved. As the government, banks and others attempt to reduce the number of unbanked and underbanked, innovative solutions that offer education, security and convenience to a group of people who’ve rarely ever had access to traditional financial services before.” <<READ MORE>>