Discover Enables Face ID Login for Mobile App

Discover has become the latest financial services institution to embrace Face ID for user login on its mobile app. The move means that Discover cardholders and customers who have an iPhone X can access their accounts just by looking at the device.

In a statement announcing the new Face ID support, Discover e-Business VP Szabolcs Paldy framed it as part of the firm’s “overall commitment to providing the best possible customer experience,” and asserted that “Face ID provides Discover customers with an added security convenience at sign-in that requires no more than a quick glance at their iPhone X.”

Discover is among the first financial services firms to support Face ID. With its sophisticated infrared imaging technology, the system is widely thought to be more secure than Touch ID, the fingerprint sensor system popularized on previous iPhone models, and which is now used for login across a range of banking and other mobile apps; but a recent spoofing claim from renowned hacker group Bkav may have chilled some organizations’ attitudes toward the new system.

For its part, Discover has proven to be an enthusiastic supporter of Apple and its mobile innovations, having announced in October a cash back reward feature for credit card customers who make purchases using Apple Pay, Apple’s mobile payments platform.