person logging in to online banking on phone

How Biometrics Help “Withdraw” Banking Pain Points

Banks and financial institutions are making a big shift to biometrics as the preferred method for authenticating customers. As biometric credentials are based on an individual’s physical traits like their face or finger, they are nearly impossible to share or steal. These solutions deliver the highest level of identity assurance and dramatically lower the ability for hackers to spoof a customer and commit fraudulent banking activities.

But as technologies evolve, cyber criminals are busy in the shadows retooling their tactics to continue their digital assaults. Today it isn’t enough to protect critical information using standard biometric practices. What can banks do to address new pain points and find the right balance between security and customer convenience?

Turn Modern Pain Points into Banking Benefits

Before the pandemic, technology was paving avenues of convenience when it came to doing things like ordering meals, shopping and banking remotely. But this sensational shift in how we digitally “run errands” creates new pain points for many institutions — in particular, the high-stakes arena of financials.

As banks adopt new approaches that take their customer experience to new heights, how can they maintain identity assurance at every customer touchpoint? Seek a biometrics solution that boasts the following features as you explore your technology portfolio:

  • Strong Authentication for Onboarding Customers: With the rapid shift to remote services for banking, strong authentication is necessary for new customers onboarding via a mobile app. But uploading identity information, which often includes biometric data and government-issued credentials, comes with big risks. Ensure your biometric solution can run verification checks against these digital documents to accurately detect signs of forgery or tampering and can also validate an individual’s biometric data during live collection.
  • Liveness Detection: A great biometrics system accurately measures liveness. This can be done in a number of ways, including having the user prove they are ‘real’ by performing certain actions on the spot in front of the camera (like adjusting their face as directed, reciting a prompted phrase, etc.). More advanced systems offer passive liveness detection, in which the device can determine a real face without requiring any movements. Other identity validation options include live behavioral checks and location metadata.
  • Enhanced Privacy and Compliance Controls: Balancing a convenient user experience with the bank’s need to meet rigorous compliance measures and data and privacy protection is another important consideration. Look for a biometric solution that offers audit logging and reporting capabilities to make it easier for the bank’s security team to conduct their compliance reporting requirements.
  • An Exceptional Customer Banking Experience: Biometric authentication streamlines identity validation processes for users, improving the accessibility and convenience of banking applications. Premier systems offer multiple biometric modalities to drive a frictionless experience, giving customers their choice of which biometric factor to present (i.e., fingerprint, face, iris, palm or voice print). User accessibility and inclusivity also elevate the experience, and great solution designs reduce implicit matching bias and errors (such as misidentification of certain age ranges or demographic groups).

Other pain points unfolding across financial atmospheres include those centered around Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements, fraud prevention and giving individuals control over how their data is used. Read more about how to get these challenges on your radar and under control before they land on your doorstep. Download our recently published eBook, From Good to Great: The Right Biometrics Capabilities for Better Banking.

Explore more about how biometrics empower banks and financial institutions.

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Vito Fabbrizio is HID's Managing Director of Biometrics for Extended Access Technologies. He has 20+ years of experience in high-tech security hardware and software, driving strategic growth and product visibility for both mature and emerging markets. His unique blend of strategic and hands-on tactical skills has generated proven results to partners and customers in the security industry.

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