The number of mobile payments verified with biometric technology will jump from an estimated 600 million last year to almost two billion this year, according to a new prediction from Juniper Research.

The market research firm says that the growth has been spearheaded by Apple, with its use of Touch ID fingerprint scanning to confirm payments on the Apple Pay platform; rivals like Samsung are now broadening their support of biometric verification of mPayments, as can be seen in the use of iris scanning on Samsung Pay via the new Galaxy S8 devices. Meanwhile, the spread of fingerprint sensor technology throughout the mobile sector more broadly has also contributed to the growth, with Juniper Research estimating that about 60 percent of smartphones shipping this year feature the technology.

Juniper Research also highlights developments like Mastercard’s Identity Check system and a new payment authentication app announced by India’s identification agency as further encouraging developments with respect to biometrically authenticated mobile payments.

The market research firm also recently predicted significant growth for all of the major mPayment platforms more broadly, with Apple Pay leading the way and expected to nearly double its number of users this year in comparison to 2016.