According to a report conducted by Unisys, 68% of Europeans would gain trust from organisations if they were to use biometrics for authentication.

The report asked consumers their opinion on biometric authentication for access to their online accounts and levels of trust in organisations that manage and store their personal data.

The survey found tech-savvy consumers are ready for biometric authentication, such as fingerprint readers or iris scanning, in replacement of passwords or PINs – with 50% of respondents saying not having to remember passwords is a major benefit of the technology.

Other top findings from the survey included:

• Consumers cited security as the key driver for adopting biometrics, with 52% believing it to be a more secure way of accessing devices and services
• 63% believe biometrics to be more secure than the traditional PIN and password methods, with 57% of those surveyed saying fingerprint scanning is the most secure form of authentication
• Ditching passwords were found to be appealing. 50% thought biometrics would help avoid having to remember passwords, and 9% believe using biometrics to be “more fun” than other authentication methods
• Of the types of organisations that hold online accounts for the public, 51% trust banks to manage data and provide a seamless experience, and 45% put their trust in government to do the same. By comparison, just 12% of consumers put their trust in social media companies
• Fingerprint scanning was found to be the authentication method citizens would be most happy using (61%) – and the second favorite method was iris scanning, with 41% of respondents registering their support
• The average time a European consumer is prepared to wait for an online sign-in process is 25.5 seconds, which is promising for biometrics as a technology that will speed up the authentication process.

Salvatore Sinno, global chief security architect at Unisys, said: “We are seeing the need for more than just the traditional password and PIN as the sole method of authentication.

“Mobile device usage has bought biometrics to the mainstream as more people access their phones via a fingerprint reader. With the arrival of the iPhone X, facial recognition will most likely become just as commonplace. It’s good to see the public across Europe putting trust in this technology.

“In today’s environment, it makes sense for organisations to have a multi-layered approach to security, to address new legislation such as the General Data Protection Regulations, and reassure the public and build trust between consumers and service providers.”

Unisys surveyed more than 3,500 people in August 2017 from the UK, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, and Italy.

Written from press release by Leah Alger