A survey by Viewpost of 1,000 US consumers indicates most are ready for technology to change the payments landscape, from biometrics to conversational commerce:
“Electronic payments have become commonplace today, with nearly 51 percent of people reporting that they are paid electronically via direct deposit, and an increasing comfort level with these paperless transactions appears significant in driving consumers’ interest in even more sophisticated forms of electronic payment. Respondents are unenthusiastic about traditional paper checks, as one-third of them think that paper checks will die within five years, and 83 percent believe they will be completely eliminated within the next 20 years.
Similarly, only 11 percent of Americans think that companies will bill their customers via paper in the future, while over half of Americans (54 percent) believe that companies will bill their customers via automatic payments from their bank account or credit card. A mobile and app-based future is definitely on consumers’ minds, with 52 percent saying they believe that payments between companies and customers will be exchanged via mobile app.
Rising payment technologies
Futuristic currencies and payment technologies – particularly biometrics – are highly anticipated, and Viewpost’s survey data bears this out. Notable findings include:
Sensor fingerprinting — 50 percent of Americans believe fingerprint technology will be used for authentication to pay and receive payments over the next 10 years.
Facial recognition — 35 percent see facial recognition as a key authentication technology for making payments within the next ten years, and 32 percent of Americans trust facial recognition for securing electronic payments.
Retinal scanning and voice control — these advanced biometric methods have gained traction in consumers’ consciousness, with some 31 percent citing retinal scanning as a viable technology for authenticating payments and 18 percent seeing themselves using voice control to make payments by 2027.”
Not surprisingly consumers are unaware of the advancements being made in biometrics, especially behavioral biometrics. Mercator predicts that identity challenges for fingerprints, iris scans or other actions for proof of identity will disappear for the majority of payment transactions, as identified in Mercator’s free ForeSight “Behavioral Biometrics Will Restructure the Authentication Landscape in the Next 5–8 Years”.
Overview by Tim Sloane, VP, Payments Innovation at Mercator Advisory Group
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