Wells Fargo is to pilot a fusion of voice and face biometrics to authenticate mobile users of its Commercial Electronics Office (CEO) portal.
The new biometric identification feature is being rolled-out to CEO Mobile iPhone app users in 2016. The bank says that identifying a combination of customers’ faces, voices, and mobile devices will make it extremely difficult for bad actors to spoof the true user.
“Biometric technology is emerging and accelerating change in financial services,” says Danny Peltz, executive vice president and head of treasury management at Wells Fargo. “We continue to explore and test new safeguards for our business customers.”
Currently, the bank is also testing another biometric authentication technology that scans the veins of smartphone users’ eyes to verify their identity. This additional security will also be available to CEO Mobile iPhone app users in 2016.
The new comes as the bank unveils a suite of redesigned treasury management applications, including information reporting and fraud prevention, across the full CEO portal suite, including smartphones, tablets and desktop.
The announcement coincides with the 15-year anniversary this month of the CEO portal, which now provides 90-plus online service to commercial, corporate, and institutional customers in more than 190 countries.
“Over the last 15 years, we’ve seen dramatic changes in technology and the way our customers do business ― it’s not just through their desktops anymore,” says Steve Ellis, executive vice president and group head of wholesale services at Wells Fargo. “We’re continuing to invest in new technology to make banking easier and more secure for our customers who need to connect with many types of devices.”
He says the bank’s active mobile business users have grown by more than 97% in just the past year.
“Our proprietary technology recognises our customers, the devices they’re using, anticipates their financial needs, and delivers the right results,” says Ellis.