Biometric banking is booming

Passwords are passe. At least that is what some experts said about having to enter, and remember, those annoying combinations of numbers and letters to access your accounts. Experts said the future of security, especially in banking, will be using biometrics to login.

Voice verification is how Erich Dye signs into his mobile banking app. Facial recognition is how his wife, Donna, logs on.

“It’s my face, no one has my face. I like the fact that you have these extra steps and it keeps my account more secure,” Donna explained.

The Dyes are using cutting-edge mobile banking security. They do not have to type a complicated password into a little hand held keypad. Instead, they rely on biometrics.

“There’s the bio component, that’s biology… and metrics, that’s the measurement, so its using the measurement of our unique characteristics to distinguish one person from another,” explained Todd Mozer, a biometrics expert with Sensory Inc.

Between voice activation, facial recognition and fingerprint verification experts say biometric banking is booming.

“I think they are the big thing that’s going on right now and the future,” said Mozer.

It is not only mobile banking that’s using biometrics. At least one U.S. bank is now using voice verification when you call customer service. Experts predict biometrics will also be used one day in ATM’s, online banking and other smart devices.

“They’re better than what we have now. it’s much more convenient to provide a physical trait that can’t be impersonated easily such as your voice or your facial features.” said Claes Bell with Bankrate.

Biometrics is growing so quickly an industry group called the FIDO Alliance, which stands for Fast Identity Online, formed to push dumping old-school text passwords in order to create standards for these new high-tech logins. While it may sound creepy to send your biometric information, FIDO calls for the user credentials never to leave the user’s device.

“So it’s actually on the device itself that way it’s under your control and not off in the cloud somewhere that can be hacked into and taken away,” said Mozer.

Erich and Donna are not creeped out by using their biometric info. They like the security of it, which they even tried to trick, by using a picture of Donna’s face to login. The result: access denied.

“It’s definitely cool. I like the security of it. I like the technology that’s put into it,” Erich said.

If you would like to see if your bank is going to offer biometric security features, check their website or give them a call.