London-based consultants Goode Intelligence predicted by the endof this year some 450 million bank customers globally will be usingbiometrics, which will be the principal banking authenticationmethod by 2020.

In a new report, “Biometrics for Banking; Market and TechnologyAnalysis, Adoption Strategies and Forecasts 2015-2020,” GoodeIntelligence revealed that biometrics in banking is already amaturing industry with many successful implementations around theworld.

According to Goode Intelligence, biometrics is being adoptedacross all of the major bank channels bank customers are usingbiometrics in a variety of bank scenarios including withdrawingcash from ATMs, proving identity when contacting their bank viatelephone, authenticating into their mobile bank app usingfingerprint and using a combination of face and voice to fulfillKnow Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) measureswhen accessing web-based e-banking services

Growth in the banking industry will be accelerated by a numberof factors including the arrival of electronic devices withbuilt-in biometric support (notably smart mobile devices), theadoption of biometric-friendly authentication standards such asFIDO, the pressing need to combat rising banking fraud and identitytheft, the growth of mobile banking and the emergence of wearablebanking.

“There is a growing desire from the banking industry to adoptconvenient methods to verify the identity of their customers andthis is creating the conditions to drive the adoption of biometricsin banking even higher. Alan Goode, author of the report andfounder of Goode Intelligence, said

“Banking adoption of biometrics is creating a booming biometricsindustry with biometric vendors experiencing tremendous growth onthe back of the escalation of consumer-led adoption of biometricauthentication,” Goode added. “The adoption for banking purposes isa major contributor to this growth and we are forecasting that by2020 it will contribute U.S. $5.5 billion in revenue for companiesinvolved in delivering biometric systems to the bankingindustry.”

Goode added “This is not just about Apple's Touch ID andfingerprint biometrics, our analysis of the current and futureadoption of biometrics for banking informs us that at least eightseparate biometric technologies will be used by hundreds ofmillions of bank customers around the globe.” Finger, vein, handgeometry, facial, voice, iris, signature and keystroke recognitionwill play an ever increasingly important role in reducing theburden on financial institution customers to remember and securepasswords.

A clear majority of Americans feel that biometrics would improvebanking security, according to a survey by telecommunications firmTelstra. In Telstra's survey, more than two-thirds of U.S,respondents said that biometrics would be more secure and helpreduce the risks of fraud.