With apologies to Marc Andreesson who famously said several years ago that software is eating the world, I think that...
Ant Financial has rolled out the world's first commercial application of a payment system that identifies payers using facial recognition technology; starting from September 1, a KFC restaurant in Hangzhou allows customers to authenticate their payments by having their faces scanned; the whole process, which takes about ten seconds, does not require users to take out their cell phones; the function is powered by Face ++ technology developed by Beijing startup Megvii. Source
Bank of America has struck a partnership with Samsung to start a pilot program that will allow Bank of America customers to login using a picture of their eye; the program will start with a group of 1,500 Samsung and Bank of America employees who will test the authentication for six months; according to a past report by American Banker, about half of Bank of America customers login to the mobile app using their fingerprint and the other half login with a username and password; according to Finovate, Samsung debuted this iris scanning technology at their Unpacked event in March and they claim it to be more secure than fingerprint scans. Source
The LendIt team is excited to return to China for our second annual Lang Di Fintech conference on July 15...
Experian will integrate BioCatch with its fraud prevention platform; the new platform services will use behavioral biometrics to help clients detect fraudulent credit card and loan applications; with BioCatch clients can consider a range of factors including the speed at which information is entered and how familiar a user is with the application process. Source
As consumers reel from yet another massive data hack, this time of Equifax, fintech leaders are looking to solve the problem to prevent future hacks from happening; Chris Skinner offers up a couple of solutions that corporates and financial services firms should implement; biometrics & touchID, though these are not hack proof, and blockchain technology; he points out the power and security of the blockchain in helping to keep personal data secure. Source.
Open banking is facilitating innovation across the banking sector and ING has plans to use it for voice automated artificial intelligence services; the bank's vision includes voice automated banking services through devices such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home, where digital assistants can pay bills and provide personalized advice through voice prompts; the bank is seeking to utilize new concepts being developed in Europe and has invested EUR800 million ($945 million) in a digital transformation. Source
India has fast become one of the world's most interesting fintech markets; at LendIt USA 2017 we hosted a fireside chat focused on digital credit for the India population and how their biometric Aadhaar system plays a key role; a few key developments have helped the India population, the ease of acquiring a smartphone and the Aadhaar system; Aadhaar started with an investment by the India government eight years ago and today there is one billion Indians who have an Aadhaar number with key identifiable pieces of information; the government then began linking Aadhaar with the banking system and enlisted fintech firms to begin extending microloans to individuals and SMEs; Aadhaar helps to solve the biggest issue with lending, KYC, by using a retina scan or biometric signature to verify the borrower; the fireside chat also talked through how the lending process worked with Aadhaar and how it has helped to extend credit to a segment of the population that only a few years ago was unable to access capital. Source
Lloyds Bank is testing biometric authentication technology for its online banking customers; the development is centered around the use of Microsoft's Windows Hello which has fingerprint and facial recognition capabilities and can be used with Windows 10 devices. Source
The United States Automobile Association (USAA) was created to provide financial services for Americans serving in the military; the Association has seen significant adoption of biometric authentication which it first introduced for members in 2015; the USAA is currently reporting two million of its five million mobile app users opting for mobile account sign in using fingerprint, facial or voice recognition; the Association is actively integrating new biometric solutions and working with new providers. Source