FinTech Magazine - May 2021 | Page 101

Government ’ s Unified Payments Interface ( UPI ) has enabled app developers to facilitate both QR-code and seamless cross-border transactions . The success of these programmes in Asia , Tomar suggests , will ultimately indicate how ‘ cashless ’ the immediate future might be . “ Many places don ’ t even expect cash anymore . In China , you can even get a fine for jaywalking on WeChat .”
report by Juniper Research estimated that 600 million mobile devices would be equipped with biometric authentication by 2021 , while Mercator forecasts that 66 % of smartphone owners will use biometrics by 2024 ( a 15 % increase from 2020 ).
Synthesising payments Therefore , while it may be premature to assume that all other forms of security and transaction will be immediately replaced by biometrics , it does seem apparent that modern commerce would be remiss to not include them . This is perfectly expressed by the EU ’ s Payment Services Directive 2 ( PSD2 ), which states that ideal financial security should feature at least two of three authenticators :
• Something the customer knows : A password or PIN
• Something the customer has : A device or payment card
• Something the customer is : Voice , face , fingerprints , etc
As the journey of biometrics ’ development continues , it seems logical to conclude that the seamless customer experience they provide makes them ideally suited to 21st century commercial experiences . “ Technology is improving day-by-day ,” concludes Tomar . “ Current innovations in edge-AI hint at an ecosystem shift where biometrics could run entirely offline on small , low-power devices instead of cloud servers . This would very likely lead to new applications and use-cases of financial transactions built on biometrics running directly on users ’ personal devices .” fintechmagazine . com 101