British banks are warning their customers not to allow their fingerprint biometric data to be stored in others’ iPhones for use in Apple Pay purchases. It’s a matter of liability in fraud and disputed transactions, with the banks arguing that such activity will be treated as customer neglect with respect to security, along the lines of giving away one’s PIN code.
It could be something of a setback for Apple Pay, which only launched in Britain this past summer. Apple allows users to store multiple individuals’ fingerprint data on one iPhone for the sake of convenience, letting multiple authorized individuals access one device via fingerprint authentication. While that makes sense in a household where multiple users share a phone, it could present some obvious issues when it comes to authorizing mPayments through the fingerprint-based Touch ID system.
On the other hand, the banks’ warnings, often hidden away in elaborate terms and conditions agreements, may simply be a preventive, legalistic measure; it isn’t clear how many users are actually sharing fingerprint biometrics on their devices, and to what extent that is resulting in unauthorized Apple Pay purchases. This could simply be a case of traditional banking institutions adapting as best they can to a dramatically changing payments landscape.
Source: The Telegraph
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