Participants overwhelmingly approved of the $8.6 billion, Mountain View, Calif.-based First Tech Federal Credit Union's biometrics pilot last fall, according to the credit union.

During the pilot program, more than 200 First Tech employees tested MasterCard Identity Check's mobile app using artificial funds, and facial recognition and fingerprint biometrics tools, in a closed environment.

Overall, participants found that biometric authentication was easy to use on its own (88%) and a clear majority found it to be even easier than password-based authentication (86%). More than 90% of participants said biometric payment authentication is something they could see themselves using on a daily basis.

First Tech employees verified the authenticity of online donations made to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals using the app's biometrics tools as part of the pilot. At the program's conclusion, participants offered their opinions on the technology and its ease of use.

The goal of the technology is to create ease and enhance convenience during the use of credit and debit cards for online purchases, while helping to ensure the security of payments, First Tech said.

First Tech and MasterCard introduced the concept for the biometrics pilot program at the White House Cyber Security Summit held at Stanford University in February 2015. First Tech serves many leading technology companies and their employees, including HP, Microsoft, Agilent, Intel, CISCO, Amazon, Nike, CH2M Hill, Intuit and Google.

“This biometrics pilot program represents an exciting next step in payment convenience and security,” Greg Mitchell, president/CEO for First Tech, said last August at the pilot program's announcement. “Our members are some of the most technologically focused consumers on the planet, and being an innovator in the payments security space is evidence of our strong desire to meet our members' unique needs.”

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First Tech Biometrics Pilot Receives a Thumbs Up

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