[ad_1]
On September 11th, biometric companies were thrust into the spotlight as their technologies were seen as a solution to national security issues. If biometrics can be used to identify terrorists in public spaces, there must also be applications for these technologies in financial services.

Identity theft is a growing problem, with over 700,000 individuals affected in the US alone in 2001. 60% of bank fraud cases involve employees, highlighting the vulnerability of financial institutions both externally and from within.

Biometrics provide stronger security than passwords, pins, smart cards, tokens, or public key infrastructure, as they identify individuals themselves rather than devices that can be lost or stolen. This type of system is becoming increasingly necessary as financial institutions transition to self-service and move more of their services online. The ability to verify and authenticate who is on the other end of a transaction is a major challenge for financial institutions as they conduct more online transactions.

Biometric technologies can help overcome this obstacle by providing a way to ensure, with high certainty, that a remote user is who they claim to be. This level of certainty cannot be achieved with a password. Biometrics can also be used to authorize transactions, maintain an audit trail, secure entry to data centers, log into networks, and simplify banking functions for customers, all with increased security and less hassle.

The confidence people have in the security systems of financial institutions is crucial to their success. As the custodians of sensitive and private data, financial institutions have a responsibility to ensure the highest levels of safety. Therefore, it is important for them to explore new technologies to enhance their current security methods and replace those that are most vulnerable to fraud.

Biometric solutions offer cost-effective employee authentication and can be used in various ways. Physical biometric characteristics include fingerprint, facial recognition, hand geometry, iris and retina scanning, handwriting analysis, and keystroke dynamics. There are also combinations of physical characteristics and behavioral traits, such as voice recognition.

While biometric security systems can be compromised, there are ways to mitigate these risks by using more sophisticated equipment and best practices. Financial institutions can use biometric technologies for computer and network access, application access, physical access, and time and attendance tracking.

The adoption of biometric technologies by financial institutions will go through three phases. In the first phase, biometrics will be used for employee access to physical data centers and to verify identity when logging onto networks. In the second phase, a limited number of institutions will make biometric technologies available for customer use. Privacy concerns have hindered adoption in the past, but since September 11th, these concerns have been gradually diminishing. The final phase will involve customers using biometric technologies for tasks like online banking and trading, requiring them to have personal biometric devices.

The wide-scale adoption of biometric technologies by financial institutions has been hindered by privacy concerns in the past. However, with increased public education and a desire for stronger security measures, it is expected that financial institutions will continue to embrace these technologies.
[ad_2]

Ihab Salloum