Australian-based Telstra reported that a quarter of U.S.consumers would share DNA with their financial institution tosecure banking and personal information. Additionally, amajority said they want biometrics as authentication for mobilebanking.

Telstra revealed the majority of U.S. consumers want theirmobile devices to immediately recognize them via biometrics,such as fingerprint and voiceprint, instead of having to prove whothey are with passwords and usernames.

According to Telstra's “Mobile Identity – The Fusion ofFinancial Services, Mobile and Identity” report, with smartphonesnow the primary channel used by Gen X and Gen Y to access andmanage their finances, expectations around how financialinstitutions manage mobile identity have been transformed.

“For the last six months, we've spoken to consumers and banksall over the world, in an effort to understand how our relationshipwith our smartphone is affecting our relationship with ourfinancial institutions,” Rocky Scopelliti, Global IndustryExecutive for Banking, Finance & Insurance, Telstra, said.

“What we uncovered is that when it comes to mobile bankingapplications, consumers no longer believe in just the safety ofpasswords and usernames. Instead, two-thirds of US consumers thinkthat using biometrics – such as voice, fingerprint, iris and facialrecognition – would be more secure and help reduce the risks offraud,” he added.

According to the research, while factors such as interest ratesand ease of accessing funds used to be the most importantconsiderations when selecting a financial institution, today, morethan half of U.S. consumers cite the security of their finances andpersonal information their top priority, together with theirinstitutions' reputation for security.

Despite this, the report found that less than half of U.S.consumers were very satisfied with their institutions'authentication methods, with one third willing to pay an extraUSD$17 per annum for more sophisticated mobile securitymeasures.

“Our research shows consumers are using their mobile bankingapplications in some really cutting edge ways, so they're expectingmuch more than ever before from their financial services providersin terms of security, innovation and functionality. In fact,Gen X and Gen Y has become so dependent on their smartphones toaccess their financial services, that it's led to a behavioralstate we are calling 'no-finapp-phobia' – the fear of being withoutfinancial applications,” he said.

Findings by Telstra were consistent with a report from Deloittein which 72% of consumers said they would appreciate the use ofbiometric identification in banking (such as fingerprints or irisrecognition) for device authentication in financial servicestransactions.