Over half of consumers (56 per cent) are worried that the shift to biometrics to authenticate online payments will dramatically increase the amount of identity fraud.
The research from Paysafe also revealed that 81 percent of consumers still favour passwords for making payments online due to concerns about the security of new biometric options.
The data also found that 66 percent of consumers worry about being able to pay for goods or services without being asked for a password, and only 37 percent believe that biometrics are more secure than other authentication methods.
Those consumers who didn’t feel comfortable using biometrics identified a lack of trust as their primary reason for avoiding them. The research also revealed further fears around the use of biometrics with 45 percent stating they did not want companies to have access to their personal biometric details, 35 percent din’t know enough about Biometrics to trust it, 31 percent were concerned that their fingerprints could be cloned and 28 percent said that they didn’t feel biometrics were safe.
Daniel Kornitzer, Chief Business Development Officer at Paysafe Group, said: “Biometrics are a huge opportunity for the payments industry to combat the increasing risk of card not present fraud. However, it’s not surprising that there is reluctance among consumers to use biometrics as a form of payment authentication when passwords and PINs have been the central pillar of financial data security for at least 20 years.Â
“News headlines are also dominated with fraud and hacking scandals so the public are aware of the risks involved when it comes to adopting new services. To overcome this, consumer education is imperative and with SCA coming in September, consumers will need to be aware of the benefits to ensure acceptance and adoption. We’ve lived in a password-driven world for many years now and consumers aren’t fully prepared to let go of what they know.”
Despite the worries over biometric transactions, adoption continues to grow with more than half (54 percent) of British consumers having used biometrics to make a payment. Nearly two thirds (61 percent) of consumers also agree that using biometrics is a much quicker and efficient way of paying for goods and services.
When asked what biometrics they had used, fingerprint technology was most commonly used biometric (38 percent) and 17 percent having used facial recognition, along with 11 percent voice-activated technologies.
Kornitzer added: “Consumer acceptance of biometrics is being driven largely by smartphone usage and adoption, and this will only increase. However, payment providers will need to do their bit to get consumers on board. Ultimately, SCA should lead to smoother and more secure payments – a win for businesses and consumers alike.”
