The Biometrics Institute predicts that the development of biometrics over the next five years will shift towards online identity verification, government mobile applications, online payments, e-commerce, and healthcare.

Biometrics has been viewed as a secure method for financial transactions and security in many walks of life, with fingerprints used for clocking in at work or verification for contactless payments, but the institute’s research suggests there are further user cases set to emerge in the coming years.

And, it comes as no surprise for those studying the market closely. The global technology powerhouses, such as Microsoft, Apple and Samsung, are strong proponents of using biometric identification for PC, laptop or mobile access purposes and, as consumers get used to this way of engaging with tech, it naturally paves the way for fingerprints and iris scanning in payments.

The case for businesses and consumers

Various technology companies and card schemes argue it’s a secure way of paying, and with the likes of Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay mobile payment solutions already using biometrics as part of their authentication process, there could be calls for more to come.

Companies like Starbucks utilise mobile payment providers like Apple Pay within their apps, meaning with the tap of a thumbprint money can move from bank account to Starbucks account, and subsequently be used at the point of sale. The simplicity of it continues to strike a chord with consumers, as the coffee chain’s latest figures show its Starbucks Mobile Order and Pay service represented 12% of US company-operated transactions in the three months to 1 April 2018.

Then there’s the Amazon Go effect to consider. As the online titan looks set to add more checkout-less physical stores to its inaugural offering in Seattle, enabling frictionless transactions without the need for shoppers to queue or visit a fixed cash desk or till, it will shape consumer expectations.

If this momentum continues and Amazon drives sales through these stores, you can imagine strong arguments from consumers for further installations of this type of technology in convenience retail – and one way of supporting speedy and secure transactions is through use of biometric identity.

Finger, face or eye scanning are all seen by industry analysts as ways to improve the authentication phase of payments for the consumer, while helping tackle growing fraud levels in retail and hospitality, and protecting customer information.

But biometric scanning isn’t fool-proof and can only be part of the identity solution, especially when being used to authenticate higher values purchases, for instance.

This means business considering adopting body-scanning payment methods need to be mindful of the trade-off between security and user-experience – and this requires a fine balance between how many false positives and false negatives are allowed in order to process a payment.  Too many false positives pose a security risk but, at the same time, too many false negatives could lead to a legitimate shopper not being able to authenticate a payment, resulting in poor customer experience and possible purchase abandonment.

A balance that provides the right level of convenience but mitigates against the risk of misauthentication will be key to successful biometrics payments solutions.

Choice trumps any individual payment type

At any trade show we attend the clear message is there’s no silver bullet when it comes to retail or payment technology.

Whether it’s mobile payment, buy-now-pay-later schemes, card and cash payment, crypto-currencies – or anything using biometrics in some way – they key for retailers is to know what their customers want and offer the relevant payment options. Businesses need to be sure that having helped navigate a customer to the all-important point of purchase they don’t lose them because they don’t offer the most suitable method of payment.

Therefore, retailers should be investigating biometrics usage as part of their suite of payment options, because the most forward-thinking organisations know they need to provide choice at the checkout.

Mobile support

It is clear mobile is very much at the heart of a lot of the innovation going on in the payment space, playing a fundamental supporting role for many of the new transactional options.

With Deloitte predicting that, by the end of 2023, 90% of adults in developed countries will have a smartphone, it’s obvious why tech companies and innovators in the payments space are targeting that piece of metal that sits in our pockets as a platform for their new solutions.

In the last 18 months the conversation in the financial world may have veered towards crypto-currencies and open banking, but before it becomes clear what impact these or, indeed, biometrics have on the overall landscape, we can be near-on certain that mobile will be central to it all.

As for the evolution of biometrics, fingerprints are already playing a key role in mobile payments processing, but in the future this could be usurped as the most dominant form of biometric payment.

Delving deeper into the Biometrics Institute research it appears facial recognition dominates as the biometric most likely to rise in popularity for businesses over the next few years. That is closely followed by a multimodal – a combination of two or more biometric forms – and then iris.

It’s certainly worth keeping an eye on how this all impacts retail payments in the not-too-distant future.

John Cooke is Founder and MD of Black Pepper Software, an agile software development company specialising in the financial services sector.

Established in 1988, Target Professional Services is a UK-based company providing Data Cleansing and Verification solutions to the financial sector.  Target verifies that common data is accurate, complete and up-to-date. Where records are found to be out-of-date, Target are able to accurately trace and verify the data to ensure records held are always compliant with GDPR and other regulations within the Finance sector and in particular, The Pensions Regulator record keeping guidance. Here Lisa talks to Finance Monthly about the company’s services, the upcoming GDPR and its impact on the business, and her role in growing Target into a leading data verification and trace company.

With the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) scheduled to come into effect in May 2018 – what would you say will be the impact that GDPR will have on businesses?

The new regulations will require greater data accuracy and accountability. The potential to fine and the size of fines that can be imposed are significant, so GDPR should not be overlooked and needs both focus and a budget within any organisation.

What have Target Professional Services done to ensure that the company will demonstrate compliance with the directive in its entirety?

First of all, Target have reviewed and updated all of our internal processes where GDPR will require change. In addition, we are checking our suppliers to ensure that they will be compliant for the new regulations, so we are clear that we are using consented data. We know that some datasets will require individuals consent to continue to be used, so we are looking to ensure that consent is obtained or that type of data is not used.

In what ways can the company’s services assist others with becoming fully-compliant?

We are sharing our experience and understanding with our existing clients so they are clear about GDPR. We are constantly finding different levels of understanding throughout our client base and we work with them to improve their knowledge.

Could you tell us a bit about your career path?

Leaving school at 16 with 10 GCSE and unable to afford to go to University, I started work with Halifax Building Society and by 18, I had been promoted to Department Manager. However, I took the decision to leave the Halifax, as my aspirations were not in banking. At that time my father had invented a high-pressure valve cap for vehicles. He needed a BS5750 certification, so I studied the requirements and wrote his manuals for him. I also worked as a part-time book keeper for my mother, who ran a small independent debt collection agency, while I studied Accountancy, Law, Economics and credit control at night school. After successfully building a computerised accounts system for my mother, I identified a need in the market to transfer manual accounts to a computerised system and went on to support other businesses to successfully migrate their accounts data. With the merger of several rental companies in 1997, the debt collection business expanded, as did my role. Along with designing and implementing the CRM database to support the expansion, I took over the management of the Customer Service and Field Operations, before finally buying the business in 2001.

You’ve managed to build Target from a small debt collection business to a leading data verification and trace company – what were the challenges that you were faced with and how did you overcome them?

The debt market was very competitive and I had one very large client when I took over the business.  I knew that I had to change the dynamics and the markets the company operated in. We entered the Pensions Market bringing innovation and competitive pricing at a time of regulation change. Target has focused on Customer Service, Data Quality and flexibility to ensure that our business does not become stagnant and stale. We bring innovation to solve the problems legislation brings to the industry and to ensure that our clients are always ahead of any changes.

What would you say are the company’s top three priorities towards its clients? How has this evolved over the years? 

Our philosophy in working with our clients remains the same today as it’s always been. We look to develop long standing working relationships with all of our clients and understand what they require from us. Every client is different so we also look to be flexible in order to suit each client’s needs.   Target has always been industry innovators and this is still a driver for us today, as tracing and data availability changes and develops.

Looking into the rest of 2017 and beyond, what does the future hold for you and Target?

We see opportunity to apply what we do to many different industries, especially with GDPR soon upon us. We predominantly work in the financial services sector and then mostly, in the pensions sector, but tracing and data screening is of value elsewhere. We are exploring such opportunities and offering solutions in new markets. Contact us if you think we can help you. Through a partnership approach we may be able to offer you a service that gives value to what you do.