RESTON, Virginia – Consumer security concerns could be a major speed bump in the road to growth for biometric payments, according to a story in Mobilepaymentstoday.com.
A recent survey commissioned by TNS Inc., a global provider of data communications and financial solutions, was conducted in the U.S., U.K. and Australia to determine consumer attitudes toward biometric payments.
The independent report found that 15% of adults have made a biometric payment in the last year, including one-fourth of adults ages 18 to 24. However, 6% felt that providing companies with their fingerprint and iris information put their personal identity information at risk.
“The industry needs to take measures to both ensure the security of this sensitive information and to convey to consumers what protections are in place,” said Mark Collins, managing director of the TNS FinTech Solutions business in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.
In addition, 68% believe that biometrics will become more commonplace within two to five years, and trust in biometric payments among U.S. adults increased slightly in the two years since the survey was last conducted.
In other payment news, Mobilepaymentstoday.com reports that millennials just aren’t that into credit cards.
Consumers age 29 and younger are 93% more likely to have a negative opinion of credit cards than people age 59 and older, according to new research from Wallet Hub. The reason is “younger people are having more trouble managing their credit card debt,” said Lucia Dunn, an Ohio State University economics professor. “That would give a person a negative opinion of cards.”
Despite that, millennials also hesitate to take on too much debt. They saw their parents struggle during the Great Recession, and many already are saddled with student loans.
The research found that Baby Boomers are much more likely than millennials to value credit cards for their convenience, as compared to using cash. Also, eight in 10 baby boomers say their good credit card memories outweigh the bad ones. About six in 10 millennials agree.
Current credit card debt is at near-record levels, with U.S. consumers owing more than $1 trillion to credit card companies, according to Federal Reserve data cited by WalletHub.