The Oxford, Conn.-based biometrics authentication company NXT-ID, Inc. announced it has patented its behavior-directed mobile payments technology. Called "behavior-metrics," it recognizes both the individual (something you are) and the action (something you know).
Behavior-metrics may include authentications based on facial expressions, gesture movements, patterns drawn or even PINs. Sensors detect virtually any motion, sound or other behavior, and combine it with physiological features that are unique to a person.
"Like voice-directed payments where you can simply say to pay, this invention enables you to draw to pay," David Tunnell, chief technology officer for NXT-ID, said. "Users are very familiar with typing a PIN or drawing a pattern to access a device. Soon, they can also choose a payment account using the same methods they use to authenticate with a device."
According to NXT-ID, behavior-metrics simplifies the payment selection process by combining it with the authentication method used to access a device. It can be used to enable mobile and wearable devices, and improves both the security and convenience of performing mobile payments.
"Convenience is just as important as security," Tunnell added. "Another key advantage of behavior-metrics is that they enable accessibility. Like directing payment by simply asking for a word that is associated with an account, users may simply perform a gesture or draw a pattern without having to view a display, enabling a method to pay for those with disabilities such as impaired vision."
The use of biometrics in financial services on the rise, and more financial institutions are considering the opportunities it offers, according to a survey from Finland-based Mobey Forum, a global, mobile financial services industry association. Authentication and payment or transaction confirmation are the most often considered usage cases for biometrics in mobile financial services, Mobey Forum said.
Of the 235 survey respondents from across the world, 22% of the financial institutions already offer biometrics to their customers and 65% are planning to offer services in the near future.
The main biometrics drivers are: Convenience, innovation perception, increased security and customer retention. The chief obstacles for financial institutions looking to adopt biometrics are the dependence on technology providers, perceived privacy issues, reliability of the technology and the uncertainty in regulation.
The London-based consulting firm Goode Intelligence predicted by the end of this year, some 450 million financial institution customers globally will be using biometrics, which will be the principal banking authentication method by 2020.
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Roy Urrico
Roy W. Urrico specializes in articles about financial technology and services for Credit Union Times, as well as ghostwriting, copywriting, and case studies. Also: writer/editor of a semi-annual newsletter for Association for Financial Technology since 1997 and history projects funded by the U.S Interior Department, National Park Service and Warren County (N.Y.).
