Australian financial services organization Suncorp Bank has enabled Touch ID authentication on its mobile app. Customers can now access account balances and other mobile services via fingerprint scan on their compatible iPhone and iPad devices.
The move was implemented to improve the user experience and customer satisfaction. Speaking to Computerworld, Suncorp Bank digital banking manager Simon Clarke explained that “40 per cent of our iOS customers already have a fingerprint ready device and are looking for more streamlined security options to manage their money on the go.” And Touch ID, of course, provides just that, essentially making the user’s fingerprint a password replacement. Suncorp Bank has indicated through a spokesperson that it’s also looking into implementing this kind of feature for Android users.
Banks around the world are increasingly adopting Touch ID authentication for similar reasons – that is, user convenience and security – with such recent examples as US-based Citizens Bank and Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank). While concerns continue to rise regarding the security of smartphone-based fingerprint authentication, and Apple’s Touch ID system has been demonstrated to be vulnerable to spoofing, many banks evidently feel that the user convenience benefits outweigh the security risks, and in many cases the kinds of banking activities allowed on mobile apps are quite limited anyway. Still, other organizations are looking to multimodal systems for both convenience and security, and that could prove popular going forward as consumers’ awareness of security risks improves.
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