‘A new study from Juniper Research has found that the value of biometrically authenticated remote mobile payments will reach $1.2 trillion globally by 2027; rising from $332 billion in 2022. These transactions use biometrics, typically facial and fingerprint recognition, to authenticate remote mobile payments. This growth of 365% is driven by recent regulatory changes, with the introduction of SCA (Strong Customer Authentication) pushing greater adoption.’
The growth of this trend is inevitable. Therefore, you should consider providing multiple ways to use biometrics in your store, as well as offering additional options for securing your customers' data.
Biometrics can offer quite a few conveniences and advantages for your business, but they all fall into two main types, and these are the ones:
1. Security
Using biometrics is more secure than traditional verification methods. Most users of e-commerce sites set passwords that are easy to remember. However, this creates the threat that their passwords could be hacked or stolen. This is where biometric technology comes in, keeping your store users safe and increasing their trust in your website.
Meanwhile, biometrics implementation also ensures the security of online payments, preventing possible spoofing attacks. Among the most common methods are:
Fingerprints
Fingerprints are one of the oldest biometric attributes used for recognition because each person's fingerprint pattern is unique. Thus, the system recognizing the unique features of each fingerprint prevents intruders from gaining access to the user's account.
Facial recognition
Facial biometrics is a widespread method of providing secure access to online stores. An image of a person's face is converted into a code, which is compared to an existing code in a database.
Bypassing this system is problematic, as it is one of the most secure. Facial recognition has long been implemented in quite a lot of smartphones, which allows users to use this method for authentication on websites, including online stores.
Implementing such features can be costly, but adding an extra security level to boost data protection for your e-business can be done more simply and less expensively, leveraging Two-Factor Authentication, for instance.
2. Convenience of customers
Security is not the only factor in favor of biometrics. What about others?
1. Fast login & no need to remember all passwords
All you have to do to authenticate is put your finger or look into the camera. You have to agree - it's much faster and more convenient than the usual way of entering a password, which is often so complicated that you can't remember it and have to constantly look somewhere in search of it.
2. Personalized experience
Amazon's ‘Made for You’ service is a prime example of this approach.
In 2020, Amazon launched the ability to customize sports jerseys in nearly 50 different ways, choosing a different fit, cut, sleeve length, colors, and more.
Buyers simply specify their height, weight, and body type and upload two photos to the Amazon app. The Made for You 3D scanning technology then uses that data to determine the buyer's body measurements.
What's the benefit, you might ask. It's simple: buyers can visualize clothing fit on an avatar that copies the buyer's measurements. This gives them a clear idea of how the clothes will look on their body.
3. Competitive advantage
Sad but true - and this is not just the title of a Metallica song. It's a description of the fact that biometrics is not yet widespread. This in turn means that e-commerce stores that use this technology will be considered more cutting-edge and secure than competitors who keep using the obsolete username/password combo authentication method.
Bottom line
- Biometrics makes your store safer;
- It increases user-friendliness as it eliminates the need to remember all passwords;
- Biometrics gives you a competitive edge in the marketplace.
Biometrics is becoming more and more a part of our lives, and who knows how it will be used any time soon? All the more interesting!
