Contactless Biometric Payments: The Future of Secure Transactions
Author: teresa_myers | 02 Jan 2025In This Post
The rapid increase in technical advancements and innovation over time has made transactions convenient. Most of the systems like fingerprint scans and more use physical and behavioral traits to make transactions. For instance, if you are using your fingerprint to unlock your phone, then you are already a next-gen user. This advancement aims to bring safety, convenience, and immediacy in making payments. As the trend progresses, retailers, businesses, banks, and many other industries have started implementing this technology on their premises ensuring fast and hassle-free payments. Studies have revealed that almost 90% of users have adopted a new means of making secure transactions and that is via contactless payment method. In fact, by 2030, these statistics are likely to grow up to 19.1% CAGR.
Emergence of Contactless Payments
The evolution of contactless payments has been remarkable. Its widespread and convenient usage has made the technology rise over time. It is observed that every time the solution was incorporated with something new and better to ensure safe transactions.
Evolution in 1995
In 1995, when the technology was first introduced as UPass in South Korea. It was a contactless card that was used for transportation. During the same time, the US found the technology useful which resulted in another enhanced method of payment termed as a Speedpass. It was a card used for the payment of gas without swiping it on the machine.
Transformation in 2000s
Later, in the 2000s, NFC (Near-Field Communication) was introduced. It is a protocol suite used to transfer data between two devices when they are closer. This was a crucial advancement in the evolution of contactless payment methods. Somewhere in 2007, an Oyster Functionality card was established. It was a kind of pay-as-you-go card containing a chip and a PIN for security. At that time, it was called Barclaycard paving the way for contactless payment in the UK. And right after this, Visa and Mastercard organizations introduced their cards for making contactless transactions.
Post-Pandemic Boom
Moreover, from 2011 to 2014, resources like Google Wallets started to gain fame. Similarly, how can Apple fall behind? For iPhone users, this technology has led the way and made contactless payments possible. Now android users also have this prerequisite to make advance payments. Here comes a major catalyst COVID-19 in 2020. This was the boom of this technology when people started avoiding contact and preferring distance as much as they could. During that time, contactless technology came out as the best source of making distance. Touching cards, cash, and ATMs, became contagious. Before 2023 only 3% of the population was found utilizing contactless payments, but by the end of this year, 25% of the population in the US were using this payment method. A survey was conducted, according to which almost 82% of the American population preferred contactless payment methods. Now, this payment method is encouraged and very few people can be seen having cash in their wallets.
Contactless Biometrics Payment Technologies
The biometrics payment solutions use only the unique physical traits of an individual to make payments. This is the most widely used way of proceeding with secure transactions because there is no way to imitate such traits. There are very less chances of scams when it comes to biometric payment technology. This method is devoid of PINs, cards, and cash, only your distinguished traits will make it happen in seconds. The research has shown that almost 72% of the population now prefers biometric payment methods instead of using PINs and passwords to maintain security. Numerous biometric payment methods include face recognition, fingerprint scan, iris scan, palm vein scan, and voice detection. These are the most common methods used for not only making transactions but many industries have implemented these solutions for getting access to the premises.
Besides, these are some of the biometric payments but not particularly contactless. The biometric contactless payments include facial biometrics, iris scans, and voice recognition. Here is a brief synopsis of these contactless payment methods:
Pay by Face
Forget cash and wallets, your face is the gateway to making instant contactless payments. This system uses specialized cameras to capture the unique facial features using the distance between eyes, mouth and nose, chin and forehead, eye socket depths, and all the unique traits of lips, cheek, jawline, and facial bones. It is estimated that 671 million people will be making face payments during 2020, but this number will likely increase to 1.4 billion by 2025. To make a payment, individuals have to enroll their faces in the system. While making a payment, the user only has to look into the camera, and the system will find the stored pattern from the database and proceed with the payment.
Iris Scan
Did you know eyes can play a role in securing your data? Yes, eyes are one of the most important ways of securing your passwords and PINs. The eye contains an iris which is made up of a unique pattern of every individual. There is a specific network in the iris, which can’t be mimicked by anyone. This biometric payment system is entirely hygienic as it is contactless, unlike fingerprint scans. In addition, it requires a person to be very careful while the process is going on. The user should be in appropriate lighting and at the correct distance to avoid a false rejection, which can occur if the system fails to recognize a valid iris scan. The user should avoid accessories like lashes, glasses, and more that can create a hindrance in scanning the iris. The iris scan market size in 2024 was $ 4.48 billion but in 2025 it has reached $ 5.12 billion.
Voice Recognition
This payment method is even more convenient for maintaining digital security compared to others. It requires no contact, just a conversation. The system asks users to say certain phrases to enroll or register. So, when making transactions, the stored voice is used to make the purchase. Sometimes, the user can directly ask the system to say, ‘Pay $10 to Taylor.’ It is also convenient for users with disabilities. This system is vulnerable to synthetic voices, voice phishing, system failure, and voice-altering. One of the crucial requirements of this method is ensuring silence to evaluate the user’s voice.
Types of Contactless Payment Solutions
Contactless payment solutions are highly encouraged when it comes to safe and secure transactions. Such solutions are entirely hygienic and don’t require any contact with physical devices. NFC and Radio Frequency Identification are the two crucial protocol suites that guarantee fast contactless payments. By 2026, 80% of user’s cards are expected to become contactless. Here are some of the major types of such solutions that are broadly being used, enlisted below:
Contactless Cards
Debit cards and credit cards are involved in this type of payment solutions that are incorporated with NFC and RIFD. Payments can be processed by bringing the card near to the device.
Mobile Phone Wallets
Mobiles or smartphones contain apps like Google Pay and Samsung Pay, and for iPhones, there is Apple Pay, which can be used to make payments. These apps already have the card information stored in them making the payments faster and easier.
QR Code Transactions
In this type, users can make payments by scanning a QR Code, typically using a smartphone or compatible apps.
Voice Scans
Such solutions use the user’s voice to make payments. Google Assistant, Siri, and Amazon Alexa are some of the assistants that can help process the hands-free payment. Conclusion
Biometric authentication in contactless payments preserves the extra layer of security while making secure transactions. Besides, this financial technology is user-friendly and promotes enhanced security and speed. Solutions like pay by face, iris, and voice scans are significant tools for preventing users’ personal information as these solutions use the unique traits of a human face, iris, and voice to proceed further. Moreover, biometric payment systems include solutions that eliminate the need to remember PINs and passwords leading to the prevention of data breaches.
Facia takes the lead in this domain by offering a sophisticated biometric payment solution that is known for a higher level of security. It has the ability to detect users in just 1 second. It possesses compatible hardware devices that can be efficiently incorporated into the existing systems ensuring the lowest FAR and FRR.
Frequently Asked Questions
Contactless biometric payments use facial, iris, and voice scans to authorize the purchase without any physical contact.
Using any of the above-mentioned scans, the voice, face, or iris is registered in the machine and while making a payment, it can be used and the system finds a match from the database.
This technology is likely the future of payment methods due to its advanced security, convenience, and less time consumption.
The process involves NFC (Near Field Communication) and RIFD (Radio-Frequency Identification) to enable contactless payments.
Face liveness detection employs various algorithms, including texture and frequency analysis to discern real faces from photos. 3D depth mapping uses specialized cameras for depth assessment, while optical flow analyzes facial movements. Machine learning models and infrared analysis further enhance accuracy by detecting anomalies and live blood flow.
