Last June 2015 Markets and Markets anticipated that the 5-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of biometrics (from 2015 up to 2020) will be at 17.9% and is provisioned to thrive and attain a “market walue of $24.5 (as cited in Ploughshare Innovations, 2015 ).” It is certainly one of the applications that is worth examining.
User Acceptance
Biometric is considerably a well-received security solution for certain banks (Mahnken (contact), n.d.). A report on a “leading national bank” (with approximately 1,000 remote branches and 1.5 million customers) showed that when their old pin-and-password authentication mechanism was replaced by fingerprint biometric (as well as the single sign on), the gains were almost as palpable as the employees reactions: “Our staff would revolt if we ever went back to the old system; nearly every day we hear compliments about the technology, it’s quite rewarding,” - Peter Norcross Jr., Director of Business Affairs ((Mahnken (contact), n.d.).
Moreover, a "banking, investment and insurance" company called USAA ("What kind of company is USAA." n.d.) have customers exceeding 400,000 who chose to use biometrics (PYMNTS, n.d.). The demographics of these biometric users showed "median age is 35 years old and of the half that is above that median, 15 percent are seniors over the age of 65, with five users over 90 years of age (PYMNTS, n.d.)," that seems logical according to PYMNTS (n.d.) because seniors age group are likely to have problems in 'hearing, motor' (PYMNTS, n.d.).
Moreover, a "banking, investment and insurance" company called USAA ("What kind of company is USAA." n.d.) have customers exceeding 400,000 who chose to use biometrics (PYMNTS, n.d.). The demographics of these biometric users showed "median age is 35 years old and of the half that is above that median, 15 percent are seniors over the age of 65, with five users over 90 years of age (PYMNTS, n.d.)," that seems logical according to PYMNTS (n.d.) because seniors age group are likely to have problems in 'hearing, motor' (PYMNTS, n.d.).
Benefits of Biometrics in Banking
In a BIO-key case study (Mahnken (contact), n.d.). Peter Norcross Jr., a business affairs director (of a major national bank) perceived the use of biometrics as: “After reviewing the options, the bank felt that incorporating biometrics would offer an unparalleled level of convenience, efficiency and accuracy; which it has,” Peter Norcross Jr., Director of Business Affairs ((Mahnken (contact), n.d.).
The “unparalleled level of efficiency and accuracy” (Mahnken, (contact), n.d.) may be attributable to current technologies available for biometrics solutions such as the one proposed by Cappelli, Ferrera & Maltoni (2015).
In addition, a BIO-key case study (n.d.) reported customer satisfaction rating improvement to 97% (may be a slight (5%)improvement from 2010); however, the report says that 12% of the bank’s customers chose to stay with them and did not shift banks after the biometric with SSO solution was installed.The other gains mentioned in that case study were reduction in both expenses related to “internal theft” and cheating by 62%, and help desk calls (30%) (Mahnken (contact), n.d.).
The “unparalleled level of efficiency and accuracy” (Mahnken, (contact), n.d.) may be attributable to current technologies available for biometrics solutions such as the one proposed by Cappelli, Ferrera & Maltoni (2015).
In addition, a BIO-key case study (n.d.) reported customer satisfaction rating improvement to 97% (may be a slight (5%)improvement from 2010); however, the report says that 12% of the bank’s customers chose to stay with them and did not shift banks after the biometric with SSO solution was installed.The other gains mentioned in that case study were reduction in both expenses related to “internal theft” and cheating by 62%, and help desk calls (30%) (Mahnken (contact), n.d.).
It has been projected that before the turn of 2016, leading banks in the U.S. (approximately 6) could be expected to implement biometrics in “mobile banking.” Examples of Banks and Financial Institutions interest in biometrics use are as follows (as cited in 3BL Media, 2015):
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Perhaps a relevant solution to banking
Reports of fraud in banking is relentless especially with more and more people opting for online banking (Please see Figure 1) (Ahmed & Priestly, 2015 & Dave, 2015). Thus, with the accuracy and uniqueness that certain biometric systems can bring (please see Module 3) it becomes a relevant solution to a means of preventing "fraud caused by millions of criminals stealing credit cards, PIN numbers and passwords" (Ahmed & Priestly, 2015).
Recent biometrics solution (i.e., Fujitsu’s Biometric-as-a-Service solution) comfortably utilizes more advanced technological resources than healthcare with the integration of cloud storage for biometric data (Planet Biometrics, 2016), which may have made sense to banks servicing over 1 million customers (Mahnken (contact), n.d.).
In addition, biometrics is also becoming the norm in secure mobile banking (Ahmed & Priestly, 2015). A proposed fingerprint user authentication system (called BioNet) hopes to eliminate the use of credit/debit cards or passwords and replace these with fingers and at 'PoS, ATMS or online console' which through the use of GPU or Graphics Processing Unit, BioNet (can fit in 10,000 servers) which can perform approximately "4 million matches per second (Bagaria, 2014).
Recent biometrics solution (i.e., Fujitsu’s Biometric-as-a-Service solution) comfortably utilizes more advanced technological resources than healthcare with the integration of cloud storage for biometric data (Planet Biometrics, 2016), which may have made sense to banks servicing over 1 million customers (Mahnken (contact), n.d.).
In addition, biometrics is also becoming the norm in secure mobile banking (Ahmed & Priestly, 2015). A proposed fingerprint user authentication system (called BioNet) hopes to eliminate the use of credit/debit cards or passwords and replace these with fingers and at 'PoS, ATMS or online console' which through the use of GPU or Graphics Processing Unit, BioNet (can fit in 10,000 servers) which can perform approximately "4 million matches per second (Bagaria, 2014).
Figure 1 - Unsecure Banking System Creates “Financial Nightmare for Customers” (Jain et al., n.d.)
How to find the right biometric solution for banking
SWOT Analysis
In order to effectively choose a suitable biometric system, banks will benefit from performing a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Analysis of all potential biometric type they think may be suitable for the nature and policies of their financial institution (Venkatraman & Delpachitra, 2008). Figure 2 below presents threats in line with their corresponding strengths and weaknesses for each biometric type. Based on critical system attributes, reliability was a threat to facial biometric systems and validity (not reliability) was a threat to iris biometric systems (Venkatraman & Delpachitra, 2008).
Please see figure below for an example of a SWOT analysis in the New Zealand study by Venkatraman & Delpachitra, (2008).
SWOT Analysis
In order to effectively choose a suitable biometric system, banks will benefit from performing a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Analysis of all potential biometric type they think may be suitable for the nature and policies of their financial institution (Venkatraman & Delpachitra, 2008). Figure 2 below presents threats in line with their corresponding strengths and weaknesses for each biometric type. Based on critical system attributes, reliability was a threat to facial biometric systems and validity (not reliability) was a threat to iris biometric systems (Venkatraman & Delpachitra, 2008).
Please see figure below for an example of a SWOT analysis in the New Zealand study by Venkatraman & Delpachitra, (2008).
Figure 2 – SWOT Analysis of Face, Fingerprint, Palm, Iris, Thermal, Voice & Signature Biometrics
Understand the threats
An example of fraud in New Zealand banks from 2006-2007 can be seen in the Figure 3 below.
An example of fraud in New Zealand banks from 2006-2007 can be seen in the Figure 3 below.
Figure 3 – Types of Bank Frauds in New Zealand from 2006-2007
The largest percentage among the list of security problems in New Zealand banks is internal fraud (Figure 3) (Venkatraman & Delpachitra, 2008). In relation to this, the internal fraud problem of a “leading national bank” (and as mentioned in the previous item) decreased by 62% as soon as the biometric system together with SSO were instituted (Mahnken (contact), n.d.). This shows that biometric is one of the key authentication mechanisms for thwarting bank’s internal security problems.
Consider the Bank’s Security/ Access Control Models
Further, examining the layout of a bank’s security and access controls before finally choosing a biometric type will greatly help in reducing problems during the implementation phase (Venkatraman & Delpachitra, 2008). In Figure 4 below, it can be inferred that among all biometric types, fingerprint is applicable to all access control types except Brewer-Nash Access Model (BNAM), while Role Based Access Control (RBAC) is the most applicable access control type to any biometric system (Venkatraman & Delpachitra, 2008).
Consider the Bank’s Security/ Access Control Models
Further, examining the layout of a bank’s security and access controls before finally choosing a biometric type will greatly help in reducing problems during the implementation phase (Venkatraman & Delpachitra, 2008). In Figure 4 below, it can be inferred that among all biometric types, fingerprint is applicable to all access control types except Brewer-Nash Access Model (BNAM), while Role Based Access Control (RBAC) is the most applicable access control type to any biometric system (Venkatraman & Delpachitra, 2008).
Figure 4 – Access Control Models and Suitable Biometric Choices
References:
- 3BL Media. (2015, July 28). Security concerns drive tech innovation in the financial sector – the minute [youtube file]. Retrieved on July 21, 2016 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_geXsaXWtA&feature=youtu.be
- Ahmed, J. & Priestly, O. (2015, May 15). Biometrics: The good, the bad and the ugly [a blog]. Retrieved on July 18, 2016 from http://www.capco.com/insights/capco-blog/biometrics-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly
- Bagaria, S. (2014). Authenticating transactions using bank-verified biometrics. Retrieved on July 18, 2016 from http://arxiv.org/abs/1407.3366
- Cappelli, Ferrera & Maltoni (2015). Large-scale fingerprint identification on GPU. Information Sciences 306 (2015), 1-20. Retrieved on July 18, 2016 from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Matteo_Ferrara/publication/273478346_Large-scale_fingerprint_identification_on_GPU/links/5579572d08aeacff200297f9.pdf?origin=publication_detail
- Dave, S. (2015, July 8). Cyber frauds increased after growth in mobile banking, NEFT and RTGS: Study. Retrieved on July 19, 2016 from http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-08/news/64212245_1_mobile-banking-frauds-banking-sector
- Jain, A., Lee, J., Nagar, A., Park, U. & Feng, J. (n.d.). Biometric recognition: Challenges in forensics. Retrieved on July 20, 2016 from www.mipro.hr/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=v6BrQoFzIPw%3D&tabid=108&language=en-US
- Mahnken, S. [contact]. (n.d.). Case study #314. Retrieved on July 18, 2016 from https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/files/form/anonymous/api/library/0f6a36a7-3726-4acc-b603-05700e251db6/document/3fe12497-556c-40f9-8022-73ca1340eee1/media/Case_Study_Gen_Fin_Approved.pdf
- Planet Biometrics. (2016). Retrieved on July 17, 2016 from http://www.planetbiometrics.com/article-details/i/4742/desc/fujitsu-adds-imagewares-goverifyid-to-its-biometric-as-a-service-solution/
- Ploughshare Innovations. (2015 ). Interest in biometrics continuing to grow at pace. Retrieved 19, 2016 from www.ploughshareinnovations.com/news-and-views/interest-in-biometrics-continuing-to-grow-at-pace
- PYMNTS. (2015). Seniors embracing biometrics for mobile banking. Retrieved on July 19, 2016 from http://www.pymnts.com/news/2015/seniors-embracing-biometrics-for-mobile-banking/
- Venkatraman, S. & Delpachitra, I. (2008). Biometrics in banking security. A case study. Information Management & Computer Security, 16(4), 415-430.
- What Kind of Company is USAA?. (n.d.). Retrieved on July 19, 2016 from http://money.stackexchange.com/questions/12921/what-kind-of-company-is-usaa