Passwords could soon be a thing of the past according to speakers at this week's Money 20/20 event in Las Vegas.
The biometrics market is forecast to be worth more than $117 billion by 2020, according to research firm Acuity Market Intelligence. And a number of vendors vying for a share of that revenue were in Las Vegas to showcase their offerings.
One of these was MasterCard which is piloting several password-free payment devices, including its Identity Check app which allows users to verify their identity with a selfie, a phrase or a fingerprint. The software has been piloted with two banks, US-based First Tech Credit Union and Dutch-based ABN Amro, and MasterCard plans to license the service for the US market by mid-2016 and internationally in 2017.
MasterCard is also working with Canada-based wearable tech vendor Nymi Band which uses the wearer's cardiac signature as an identifier. "I personally hate passwords," says Bob Reany, MasterCard senior vice-president for identity solutions. "The next wave is going to be wearables."
The next wave though may be directly from the brain. Scientists from Binghamton University in New York conducted research in June this year that revealed significant differences in brainwaves from 45 participants when asked to read out a list of acronyms. The study, titled Brainprint, suggests that security systems could rely on user's brainwaves as a means of identification in the future.