It may be time to jump into fingerprints and voice recognition for securing mobile banking.
By Robb Gaynor
Security is paramount when defining a digital strategy for both mobile banking and Internet banking. And, until recently, passwords have been king. Passwords are an expeditious way to allow users to establish their identities—to prove they truly should have access to whatever it is they want to access. Passwords are a reality for every adult as almost everything has a password. But remembering the password for a great number of accounts can be a real pain and, at the same time, not so secure as one would like. The literature is abundant on how strikingly easy passwords are to guess, in part because people often choose similar passwords. So wisely, regulators have for a decade asked financial institutions to use multi-factor authentication before letting someone into an online or mobile banking account. That means using a password plus some additional form of proving one’s identity. Enter biometrics. While a password is something you know, biometrics authenticate you based on “who you are.” And some of this technology is now arriving. The most popular forms of biometrics that seem to have reached viability to the point where credit unions can implement them are fingerprint and voice recognition. How do you add biometrics to your digital strategy? In order of what is most viable and easiest to do, start with Touch ID from Apple, currently available for an array of Apple devices. A fingerprint identification technology, Touch ID represents the largest market of potential users. It can be used to replace (or, more conservatively, augment with another layer of security) the primary ID and password. Most institutions that are rolling out Touch ID to secure mobile banking applications are opting to replace ID and passwords. Fingerprint biometrics also can be extended to the Android platform. But be cautious, as only a small percentage of Android smartphones support this. In lab tests, the Android technology is not as easy to use as Touch ID by Apple. Viable, cost-effective voice recognition technologies provided by third-party tech vendors such as Nuance Communications, IBM and Google also are available. However, some implementation challenges remain, such as getting quality voice prints (the voice equivalent of a fingerprint) to match against a user’s request for access. Capturing quality voice prints can be accomplished in a branch, by phone or on a computer. As with fingerprints, voice is either replacing or augmenting the use of a user ID and password. Touch ID is provided by Apple, which makes the process highly standardized. Voice authentication is going to be harder and more expensive to implement because third-party technology will be required and there is no one market leader in the space offering it essentially free. Today’s credit unions have an opportunity to provide a stronger security environment, using innovative technologies. As biometrics technology continues to advance, it will change the game of securing digital banking.
Robb Gaynor is chief product officer and co-founder of Malauzai Software, Inc., Austin, Texas. It's not too late to register for CUES School of Payments, slated for May 12-13 in Chicago. You may also be interested in attending the CUES School of IT Leadership, Sept. 15-17 in San Antonio.
