Biometric Technology In The Financial Services Industry

The events of September 11 pushed biometric technology to the forefront. It was known these developing technologies could prove very effective for security purposes but the need for biometric technology solutions became increasingly greater in the days after 9/11. And if biometrics can be used effectively to thwart terrorists by spotting them in public places, it was only a matter of time before industry adopted biometric technology to fight white collar crimes such as identity theft especially considering 60% of cases were inside jobs involving company employees.

Biometric technology offers abundantly more robust security than keys, smartcards, PIN numbers, and passwords because biometric systems recognize individuals not keys or cards that can be lost, stolen, or duplicated. Considering the mass movement toward self-service with ATMs and online banking such security solutions are all the more important in the effort to control costs while meeting consumer demands. Completely verifying and authenticating the party on the other end of the transaction is the biggest challenge currently facing financial institutions in the online banking operations.

Biometric technologies with their high probability of verifying the identity of parties transacting business online can play a major role in making online transactions safe and secure. The same level of security offered by biometric solutions is simply not possible with mere passwords. In addition, biometrics can be used in-house to provide a review trail on access to data centers and networks full of sensitive customer information so it's possible to kill two birds with one stone.

Financial institutions are aware that their income is partly influenced by the confidence account holders have in the banks ability to safeguard their assets. Given the sensitive nature of the confidential information financial institutions have on thousands of account holders and the increase in identity theft, financial institutions are charged with using the latest technology to safeguard this data.

Among the many advantages of biometric solutions are superior accuracy levels, compact devices, and public acceptance. While the mass media extols the virtues of biometric technology in the war on terror, it's the authentication features of biometric technology that caught the attention of financial institutions.

Biometrics is hardly a new science. As far back as 14th century China, children's hand, foot, and fingerprints were imprinted onto paper to be used for subsequent identification. And in 1901 Scotland Yard developed a classification system for using fingerprints to identify criminals. So biometric technology has been budding for centuries. But especially in the last several decades as great technological breakthroughs are being made on a regular basis and these breakthroughs are being applied to biometric technology. Don't be surprised if in the near future your ATM scans your retina or fingerprint to confirm your identity instead of an ATM card and a PIN.