In general, respondents were very open to trying new forms of biometric verification, including fingerprint (61%), facial recognition (57%) and palm verifier (57%). There was, however, some reluctance when it came to verification by heartbeat recognition (45%) and keystroke dynamics (44%).
| Form of biometric verification | % of people willing to use * |
| Retina/iris recognition | 62% |
| Fingerprint | 61% |
| Facial recognition | 57% |
| Palm verifier | 57% |
| Voice recognition | 55% |
| Handwriting | 51% |
| DNA | 49% |
| Heartbeat recognition | 45% |
| Keystroke | 44% |
The survey, conducted online with OnePoll, also revealed fingerprint was currently the most widespread form of biometric verification, regularly used or tried by 54% of respondents, followed by facial (32%) and voice (29%) recognition.
The use of biometric verification is more prevalent among 18-24 year olds, especially when it comes to fingerprint (78%) and voice recognition (43%).
Keith McGill, head of ID & fraud at Equifax, said: “It’s encouraging to see a healthy openness to try new forms of identification verification. Biometric verification is safer and less fallible than traditional, knowledge-based verification, and its future development and success will be an important pillar in the fight against online financial fraud.
“People will accept and adapt to technology that makes their lives easier and their finances more secure. However, developers, while making huge technological strides in their field, must be mindful of educating consumers on the inherent benefits biometric verification offer to build public trust and accelerate its mass adoption.”
