An Australian credit union has announced the launch of a new mobile app which embraces the TouchID fingerprint technology introduced on Apple’s iPhone 5S.
People’s Choice Credit Union, with 345,000 members across Australia, launched the app with the aim of simplifying the user experience of mobile banking, given its claim that people need to remember an average of 10 pins a day.
Commenting on the new technology, People’s Choice Credit Union spokesman Stuart Symons said: “A PIN can be lost, forgotten or stolen, so a fingerprint is a much more secure form of identification and it’s pretty convenient as well – always there at the tip of your finger.”
People’s Choice is confident members will embrace the cutting-edge technology, especially given it increases security and cannot be stolen or forged.
Researchers across the world are working on developing reliable technology that will recognise a range of unique human qualities such as scanning finger veins, facial recognition, behaviour–based identification, iris and retinal scans and even monitoring the electrical activity of the heart.
Ongoing Mercator Advisory Group research points to a strong interest by financial institutions in offering more reliable and easier to use authentication methods for their banking customers. And an increasing number of FIs around the globe feel that biometrics fit that criteria, some, if not many, are exploring the use of biometric authentication in the near future.
Overview by Ed O’Brien, Director, Banking Channels Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group.
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