A quarter of Brits would hand over DNA to their bank

One in four UK consumers would consider sharing their DNA with their bank if it made authentication easier and their sensitive information more secure, new research has revealed.

With smartphones now the primary channel used by Gen X and Gen Y to access and manage their finances, the report examined how expectations around how banks manage mobile identity have changed.

The majority of Brits using mobile banking applications prefer biometric authentication, such as fingerprint and voiceprint, to passwords and usernames, the research found.

“What we uncovered is that when it comes to mobile banking applications, consumers no longer believe in just the safety of passwords and usernames,” said Rocky Scopelliti, global industry executive for banking, finance and insurance at Telstra, which carried out the report.

“Instead, two-thirds of UK consumers think that using biometrics – such as voice, fingerprint, iris and facial recognition – would be more secure and help reduce the risks of fraud.”

Interest rates and ease of accessing funds, traditionally the most important considerations when selecting a financial institution, have now been overtaken by security, the research found.

Despite this, only a third of UK consumers in the report were ‘very satisfied’ with their institutions’ authentication methods, with one third willing to pay an extra £11 per annum for more sophisticated mobile security measures.

>See also: 8 in 10 Brits would ditch passwords for biometric security

“Our research shows consumers are using their mobile banking applications in some really cutting-edge ways, so they’re expecting much more than ever before from their financial services providers in terms of security, innovation and functionality,” Scopelliti added. “With our consumption of financial services intrinsically linked with the mobile device, our mobile identity is the key to unlock trust with our service provider.”

Nationwide and NatWest have the most satisfied UK customers when it comes to the identity and authentication methods offered and are, accordingly, the most likely to be recommended on such.

[“source-information-age.com”]