Lloyds Banking Group recently announced that it will be the latest European bank to move into the cutting-edge authentication realm. By partnering with Microsoft on a program of biometric authentication, it follows the likes of fellow London bank Barclays, which has been experimenting with voice authentication for phone-based banking, and Spanish financial giant BBVA, which has helped pioneer “selfie authentication.”
Beginning with a pilot program later this year, through Windows Hello, customers will be able to log into their Lloyds Bank, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland online accounts on Windows 10 devices that can use both fingerprint and facial recognition.
“Devices will recognize the user rather than having to remember an assortment of letters and numbers that are forgotten or could be guessed,” said Lloyds in a statement.
The hardware actually “binds the device to the user and creates a data representation of a face,” says the company. This is stronger for security than merely relying on an image because it will not grant access to an impersonator using a photograph, for example, stated Lloyds Banking Group.
The devices can also use infrared technology to identify faces, allowing account holders to be recognized easily in different types of lighting.
“With customer experience and security at the forefront of our minds, we are keen to run this pilot to explore the new functionality Windows Hello could give our customers,” said Gill Wylie, chief operating officer of group digital and transformation of Lloyds Banking Group. “I am delighted we are the first banking organization in the U.K. to work with Microsoft on Windows Hello.”
