“Google launched its Pixel 4 smartphone last October, marking a shift away from fingerprint-based user authentication and toward facial recognition…”

American Express has become the latest company to embrace the Google Pixel 4’s Face Unlock feature for its mobile app.

The development comes by way of a new beta version of the Amex app, allowing end users to access their American Express profiles without the need to enter a password. It’s the latest example of a growing trend, as an increasing number of mobile apps – perhaps especially those from financial services providers – take advantage of biometric authentication, which is seen as both more secure and more convenient for end users.

Google launched its Pixel 4 smartphone last October, marking a shift away from fingerprint-based user authentication and toward facial recognition – a move that appeared to be a direct response to Apple’s approach to user authentication on its most recent iPhones. Google’s facial recognition system is based on its Soli chip’s radar capabilities, allowing for 3D face mapping.

Also important is the Android 10 operating system’s biometrics API, which is intended to let developers take advantage of not only facial recognition but other modalities like iris scanning. That means Amex could also enable support for face or iris recognition for users of other devices like the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Note 10, which also run on Android 10.

As for the Pixel 4, a handful of other apps have also embraced Face Unlock, including the password managers 1Password and LastPass.

Sources: 9to5Google, Android Police