Are biometrics ready to go mainstream?

The use of biometrics to validate payments is far from a new concept, but so far, the market has been insufficiently ready for the evolution, instead encouraging consumers onto mobile payments from card-based solutions. Is all that about to change?

The way we think about security has been transformed by the evolution of technology. While passwords and PINs were once considered the pinnacle of payment protection, they are now on the brink of being overshadowed by advanced biometric authentication systems what have seen a meteoric rise in adoption - testament to the increasing global emphasis on security and convenience.

But after Amazon’s Pay by Palm initiative proved unsuccessful, there was speculation that consumers simply weren’t ready to use biometrics for anything beyond unlocking their phones.

Undeterred, earlier this year Mastercard announced the expansion of its global Biometric Checkout Program in Latin America, launching in-store biometric payment experience in Uruguay - the first Biometric Checkout Program pilot that allows registered shoppers to pay with their palm and the second pilot in the LATAM region.

This represents a positive step towards biometrics becoming mainstream, and a more streamlined checkout experience. But are consumers - and merchants - really ready for it?

The benefits of biometrics

The main benefit of biometric IDs is, of course, offering a highly secure method for customer identification in retail transactions. Using biometric features, such as facial recognition or fingerprint scanning, significantly reduces the risk of fraud, identity theft, and unauthorised access to customer data.

But they also facilitate a seamless and efficient checkout experience. Customers can make payments without needing cash or physical cards, eliminating the need to carry multiple cards, reducing waiting times and enhancing overall customer satisfaction.

Beyond security and convenience, biometric digital IDs also enable retailers to provide a more personalised shopping experience. By leveraging biometric data, merchants can identify individual customers, tailoring product recommendations, discounts, and promotions based on their preferences and past purchase history.

Given all these benefits, you would think consumers would embrace biometrics with open arms, but it seems this is not the case.

Combatting trust issues

According to a recent survey by GetApp, there has been a decrease in the number of consumers who trust technology companies to secure their biometric data. In 2022, 28% of consumers trusted that their biometric data was secure. In 2024, that number has fallen to 5%.

The survey highlighted a decline in consumer comfortability when sharing biometric information like face scans, voice scans or fingerprints. Trust in these individual technologies has also trended significantly downward.

This is largely because many consumers have concerns about how their biometric data is collected, stored, and used. To address this, merchants must be transparent about their data policies and comply with relevant regulations, as well as evaluate the privacy policies and data protection measures of any biometrics partners.

It’s also important to remember that the biometrics ecosystem is fragmented, increasing the need for certification to validate the security and reliability of a solution. Given the variance in requirements between the different international and domestic schemes, developing a product which satisfies multiple standards is essential in building consumer trust.

But there is another issue hindering the adoption of biometrics for payments. Consumers primarily encounter biometrics through their phones, and are comfortable using biometrics in this way. It means the preferred method of biometric authentication is determined by their mobile operating system: Android users are generally more comfortable with fingerprint scans, while Apple users are more comfortable with facial recognition.

Merchants and payment system companies must acknowledge these differences and design their systems accordingly.

Despite the undeniable benefits of biometrics, merchants shouldn’t be in a rush to mandate an overarching shift in authentication methods. Instead, they should make biometric authentication available, offer options consumers are comfortable with, and tighten requirements gradually.

The banking sector has always been at the forefront of adopting advanced security measures, and biometric payments are, in my opinion, an inevitability. This is because, implemented correctly, they have the potential to strike that elusive balance between the robust security consumers need and convenience, and the frictionless user experience they want. Get this right, and biometrics will secure their place as the new gold standard of payment authentication.