How do consumers want to access secure services online? With face verification. That’s the key finding from a recent report by iProov, the world leader in biometric verification and authentication technology, which surveyed 16,000 people in eight countries to assess their attitudes to online security and digital identity.

Seventy-two per cent of respondents in Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, the UK, and the U.S. said they would prefer to use face verification for secure online transactions. Sixty-four per cent said they either already use face authentication for accessing their mobile banking app or would do so if it was available, while 55% said they already use biometrics to unlock their mobile devices.

The appetite for more online services was even more pronounced, with 80% saying they would like to see driver’s license renewals, passport renewals and other government services supported digitally. But awareness of the risk of cybercrime was also high, with 86% saying they were worried about identity theft.

The five key findings from the survey:

Face verification is preferred for online security by almost three-quarters of consumers worldwide

●      Seventy-two per cent of respondents said they would prefer to use face verification for secure transactions online.

●      Sixty-four per cent said they either already use face authentication for accessing their mobile banking app or would do so if it was available, while 55% said they already use biometrics to unlock their mobile devices.

●      This roundly dispels the myth that consumers don’t like face biometrics – the security and convenience clearly appeal to people in all regions of the world.

The vast majority of consumers want additional secure services online and they welcome ID checks

●      Eighty per cent said they wanted to see more government services offered online, with driver's license renewals, vehicle tax renewals, passport renewals, voter registration, and filing of tax returns on the most wanted list.

●      These services all require stringent online identity verification, which underlines the need for face biometric verification and liveness detection.

●      Eighty-four per cent said they expected online payments to be verified over a certain value threshold, with Spain and Italy having the lowest thresholds.

Identity theft is a concern for nearly 9 out of 10 consumers – protection is critical

●      Eighty-six per cent of respondents said that they were worried about identity theft, with 37% saying they had been a victim or knew someone who had. Americans were most likely to have suffered directly.

●      Forty-nine per cent hadn’t been affected but were still worried about it.

●      Consumers care greatly about identity theft and organizations must reassure their customers with appropriate online security measures.

Ninety per cent of consumers might consider using a single secure digital identity

●      There is huge consumer demand for single secure digital identity services when the concept is explained. Ninety per cent of respondents said they already use one or might consider doing so.

●      Banks, governments, credit card firms, and Google were most trusted to deliver digital identity services.

●      However, the survey also discovered that only half of the consumers understood what the term “digital identity” meant. For governments and other organizations delivering digital identity services, consumer education on purpose and benefits will be key.

Passwords have to go: a third of consumers had requested a password reminder in the previous 24 hours

●      Thirty-two per cent of respondents said they had been forced to request a password reminder either that day or the previous day, with 55% saying they had done so during the previous week.

●      This not only represents a huge level of unnecessary online customer frustration but it’s also lost business; 32% also said they abandon online transactions at least once a month due to password frustration.

“This research highlights that consumers want the security and reassurance of online face verification, as well as the convenience that it delivers,” said Andrew Bud, Founder and CEO of iProov. “Consumers care deeply about identity theft, and face verification provides the best possible protection against it, enabling organizations to deliver secure services online with an effortless user experience. A simple face scan can unlock access to every kind of service online, replacing hideously outdated passwords.”

iProov’s patented face biometric verification and authentication technology is used by organizations globally to confirm that an online user is a right person, a real person and that they are authenticating right now. Its Genuine Presence Assurance^® and Liveness Assurance™ technologies deliver an effortless user experience with the highest levels of security to help prevent fraud, identity theft, and other cybercrime during online onboarding, authentication, and identity recovery.