Why Citi Is Using Biometrics To Build Its ‘Security Perimeter’

Why Mastercard Is Betting On Biometric Cards To Advance Inclusion

From company board rooms to airport boarding gates, the need for seamless authentication is putting biometrics front and center in varying use cases. With that shift, older authentication tools, such as physical tokens, are seeing a decline in use.

The new Digital Identity Tracker™ highlights how biometrics is being embraced across a wide range of markets, including travel, financial services and enterprises.

Around the Digital Identity World

In recent weeks, several companies have banded together to develop secure, seamless authentication tools.

Authentication solutions provider Payfone recently collaborated with credit agency TransUnion in an effort to crack down on fraudulent activities. Under the partnership, Payfone’s Trust Platform and Trust Score will be integrated into TransUnion’s IDVision and iovation suites, enabling users to instantly verify customers and thwart potential fraudsters in real time.

In other partnership news, financial services firm PayPal recently invested in blockchain security company Cambridge Blockchain. Cambridge Blockchain’s solutions use blockchain technology to validate data and identities. Under the partnership, the company will work with PayPal’s corporate venture group. The exact amount of PayPal’s investment is unknown, but the windfall will be applied to building Cambridge Blockchain’s technology suite for digital identity tools.

Meanwhile, in Thailand, KBank is embracing biometrics for new customer enrollments. The financial institution (FI) recently created a facial recognition tool that enables bank customers to open new deposit accounts either in person or via digital channels. KBank plans to link data collected from the solution to all of its digital platforms, and to partner with banks in an effort to enhance security and prevent fraud.

Deep Dive: Banks Step into Authentication Roles

Banks have the necessary technology to authenticate users and keep digital identities safe. As such, these FIs could play a role in helping online merchants to authenticate users, and safeguard digital consumers’ personally identifiable information (PII).

This month’s Tracker includes a Deep Dive that highlights how banks could play a significant role in keeping PII secure in the eCommerce space, to both oversee safe online transactions and guard consumers’ data.

How Citi Taps Biometrics to Enhance ‘Security Perimeter’

A single data breach that manages to compromise users’ identities can cost firms an average of $3.86 million. Some financial service providers, such as Citi, are turning to biometrics to offer businesses a login experience that is both seamless and secure, as passwords and PINs can be easily compromised.

In the May feature story, Tapodyuti Bose, managing director for Citi’s Treasury & Trade Solutions division, discussed how implementing biometric solutions can help enhance security, while keeping businesses safe from bad actors.

About the Tracker

The Digital Identity Tracker™, a Jumio collaboration, is a forum for framing and addressing key issues facing entities in the digital identity space. It highlights news and trends pertaining to those charged with efficiently and securely identifying — and granting permission to — individuals so they can access, purchase or transact.