Google Wallet may soon give consumers more control over how often they verify their identity when making contactless payments. A potential update would allow users to disable the wallet’s current three-minute window, which lets them make multiple payments before being prompted to authenticate again. Instead, users could be required to verify their identity with every transaction.
According to Android Authority, the change would give consumers the option to accept additional friction in exchange for greater security. While the final details of the update are still unclear, it raises an interesting question for the payments industry—should consumers have more say in how much friction they’re willing to accept to protect their accounts?
The Challenges to Authentication
Cybersecurity has become top of mind as more funds move through digital channels, fraud continues to mount, and record-setting breaches become alarmingly routine.
This has intensified the focus on strengthening authentication. But doing so is becoming more difficult as bad actors use technologies like artificial intelligence to impersonate users or create synthetic identities from scratch.
AI is also increasingly being used by legitimate customers to act on their behalf. Many leading banks have already detected the presence of AI agents in customer accounts. This adds another layer of complexity, as institutions must determine not only if the agent is legitimate, but also whether its actions align with the user’s intentions.
Authentication is further complicated by the scale and fragmentation of the digital ecosystem. A single consumer may have multiple cards, digital wallets, fintech accounts, and crypto wallets, each presenting potential targets for cybercriminals and additional security challenges for financial institutions.
Putting the Choice in Consumers’ Hands
To strengthen identity verification, financial institutions have deployed tools such as payment credentials and tokens, passkeys, and device verification, with varying degrees of success.
Yet despite the need for stronger verification, many banks and credit unions have been reluctant to bolster their authentication protocols further because of concerns that doing so could increase customer friction.
Given all of this, the potential Google Wallet update offers an interesting approach: allowing consumers to decide when they’re willing to accept additional friction for greater security.
