Biometric Experts Comment On Launch Of Apple Pay Smart Wallet Payment Service

Investorideas.com (http://www.investorideas.com) a global news source covering leading sectors including biometrics and mobile tech, issues commentary from analysts and experts on the September 9th launch of Apple Pay, its new payment service. Alan Goode of Goode Intelligence, Janice Kephart, founder of the Secure Identity and Biometrics Association (SIBA) and CEO Gino Pereira of NXT-ID, Inc,

a company that is introducing its own biometric smart wallet that is separate from a smartphone. Alan Goode of Goode Intelligence, a well-known expert in biometrics noted, "Although not a revolutionary announcement from Apple, the introduction of Apple Pay using Touch ID for biometrically authenticated payments is a huge step towards the widespread adoption of mobile payments. Following on from the decision by PayPal and Alipay to both offer mobile payments to be authorised by fingerprint biometrics on the latest Samsung devices this is an indication that payments is a big driver for the adoption of consumer biometric authentication." Janice Kephart, founder of the Secure Identity and Biometrics Association (SIBA) talked about the future of biometrics and Apple's role: "I think the easiest applications to predict having the biggest impact are the ones that are designed to be purely personal, voluntary, and would have little to no value to government, such as the Apple Watch which creates a highly unique fitness profile using biometric readings that actually informs people beyond what any fitness training apps do today. That is an innovation to move a biometric acceptance to a whole new level." She went on to say, "Much more tricky for Apple to launch is Apple Pay, which no matter how described, means that our phones are interfacing personal biometrics involuntary with an unknown web of payment systems, credit cards and retailers. It is that connectivity between personal biometrics and the outside world that is uncontrolled beyond - literally - our fingertips, that will continue to draw a dubious reaction from folks. Assuring people about who can access that biometric and payment information via their phones, and who cannot, is the learning curve Apple must overcome. Whether the public is ready or not remains to be seen. But no matter what, that acceptance will likely have less to do with the biometric features than with overall concerns about payment security and privacy." Frost & Sullivan reported today that "the biometric revenue from smart phones is expected to increase from $53.6 million in 2313 to $396.2 million in 2019, at a compound annual growth rate of 39.6 percent." "Due to existing hardware capabilities across devices, most of the growth is expected from facial and voice authentication technologies," said Frost & Sullivan ICT Global Programme Director Jean-Noel Georges. "While the uptake of biometric technologies will get a boost from the proliferation of new devices with fingerprint authentication capability, their acceptance will be tepid until the market develops more sophisticated and accurate authentication software." NXT-ID, Inc is launching a biometrically secure smart wallet called the Wocket that is separate from a consumer's smartphone that includes voice biometrics and a multiple security approach. The company announced yesterday that it began trading on the NASDAQ. CEO Gino Pereira of NXT-ID, Inc said, "I think that the NFC solution offered by Apple will bring a wider acceptance of touchless payment technology. However the challenge is not be underestimated. Companies such as Google and SoftCard (formerly Isis) have been trying to implement NFC technology for several years and as recently as a year ago some pundits had written off the technology in favour of a cloud based solution. The payment industry is undergoing a revolution, just as the entertainment industry has over the last decade. At the heart of the matter, customers want to have the most convenient payment experience, which should also be as secure as possible. This experience can be delivered in many forms: a smartphone, a smart watch or our very own Wocket smart wallet! Security needs to address not only access through biometrics but also protection of the data through tokenization or encryption."