Drivers and challenges for biometrics in the financial services

Mobile banking and biometrics are currently making profound changes to the Financial Services landscape. Anyone with access to a cell phone has a place to keep his or her savings without needing a traditional bank account. The Mobile payment value chain has various roles, all of which need to be addressed and managed. There is a potential for mobile operators, security technology organizations can target FS organizations and provide both the technical solution, business experience and collaborative forum necessary to solve barriers for banks such as security (biometric identity assurance), regulations/standards (collaborative forum) and partnerships. This opportunity for mobile payments has already been verified through preliminary analysis by blue chip FS organisations. Additionally there is the potential of "piggybacking" on the national ID in emerging markets to allow payments functionality. This would allow poorer countries without a FS infrastructure capability to "leapfrog" to financial inclusion. As The New York Times Magazine noted in a recent cover story, last year migrants across the globe sent home $300 billion. The potential of tapping this market by Financial Services and Mobile operators is enormous. In addition to the risk of an un-standardised market, banks are at risk of not facilitating such a market in developing countries from new competitors siphoning potential customers. Therefore the remittance and unbanked markets are where m-Banking will be world-changing. The objective of this study is two-pronged: it is both to determine and highlight the potential of Biometrics for the Financial Services market.