KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 10): Biometric and pattern-based authentication are rapidly gaining acceptance among Asian corporates, amid rising concern over identity theft and fraudulent activity, according to a new research by East & Partners Asia.

East & Partners Asia is a specialist market research and consulting firm in the business, corporate and investment banking markets of Asia Pacific.

In a statement today, East & Partners Asia said nearly a third of all large corporates across Asia believe biometric, which uses a consumer’s unique biological traits, including finger print, voice, face and iris to verify their identity, is far more secure [than thought]. Thus, these large corporates expect to use it in the near future, a big jump up from the 3.2% who currently use it, the statement added.

It said this was in part due to the proliferation of biometric technologies in consumer mobile devices such as fingerprint scanning capability, allowing consumers to grow accustomed to the technology.

A further 15.8% prefer a behaviour analytics approach that relies on distinctive patterns derived from user’s keystroke, swipe or mouse movements, the statement added.

The firm said this indicates Asian corporates have a receptive attitude toward new technologies, especially when it comes to payment authentication methods.

East & Partners Asia said the research was based on direct interviews with 947 chief financial officers (CFOs) and corporate treasurers from the Top 1,000 institutions across ten key markets in Asia, including China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.

According to the research, passwords are gradually becoming a thing of the past.

East & Partners Asia said while two in five CFOs in Asia say they are comfortable with using passwords to secure payments, most do not foresee continued use in the future, signalling a significant shift in security culture.

The firm said a similar trend is evident in approaches using security tokens and one-time access codes, the predominant authentication system used in corporates accounts, but to a lesser extent.

In the near future, only 38.9% of corporates in Asia will choose these traditional authentication methods – down from 52.7% now.

East & Partners Asia said token and verification code use will remain common, but as new authentication methods emerge, these will take a back seat.

It said biometrics and pattern-based authentication will serve as the next layer in multi-factor authentication, supplementing rather than replacing security tokens and one-time access codes.

East & Partners lead analyst Sangiita Yoong said success for payment service providers will hinge on offering a fast, secure and frictionless payment solution, without compromising on customer’s personal data.

“The key perhaps lies in grasping a better understanding of the trade-off between convenience, security and privacy needs from a user point of view,” Yoong added.