The Rise of Biometrics in Healthcare, Finance, and Payments

With mobile payments on the rise, health-based applications containing increasing amounts of sensitive information, and smart homes becoming an everyday reality, the market for biometrics has developed rapidly, and will continue to grow at a rapid pace through the next decade, according to a study by Tractica.

Right now, the market intelligence firm estimates that the worldwide biometrics technology market will grow from $2.0 billion in 2015 to $14.9 billion by 2024, spanning at least 13 biometric modalities, 11 major industry sectors, and 142 individual use cases, not to mention more than 100 technology vendors and systems integrators. Namely growing in established markets, the cumulative revenue will total USD 67.8 billion, shown below.

Common Types of Biometric Modalities

Bob Lockhart, principal analyst of the Tractica study, believes that, “while all biometric modalities will experience growth during the coming decade, the largest revenue opportunities lie with fingerprint recognition, voice recognition, and iris recognition.”

Other notable modalities that will have a place in the market include facial recognition, vein recognition, facial thermography, electrocardiogram (ECG) recognition, retina recognition, and DNA recognition.

Use Cases Driving Adoption in Multiple Industries

With the market set to grow, there will be many more vendors and use cases that come as established firms and startups join the biometric competition.

“Use cases define biometrics. Technology enables, but does not define this market,” says principal analyst at Tractica, Bob Lockhart. “Our research indicates little evidence of point solution selling or customers being seduced by cool technology. Even vendors with unique technology talk first about solving problems.”

At 142 use cases in 2015, biometrics could already play a role in the healthcare field, with revenue expected to reach $3.5 billion by 2024:

• Pharmacy Dispensing
• Care Provider Authentication
• Patient Identification and Tracking
• Home/Remote Patient Access

As well as in the finance fields, in which global biometrics finance revenue will reach $2.2 billion by 2024:

• Cashpoint/ATM
• Fraud Identification
• Mobile Banking – Regular
• Mobile Banking – High-Value Second Factor
• Point-of-Sale Transactions
• Unstaffed Bank Branches

Examples of Biometrics in Payments

When this turns to payments, there are already companies beginning to test the methods. Companies like Biyo Wallet (formerly PulseWallet), SmartMetric, and Daon are taking on biometric authentication for cards, while Walt Disney World, Apple, and Samsung are putting biometrics to use for everything from mPay to keyless room entry.

Will the use cases drive the adoption? Will it be worth it for consumers and businesses? The market forecast report is available for purchase here, as well as industry specific reports in finance and healthcare available as well.

For more information on biometrics in payments, see The Members Group report on the topic, and be sure to follow WEX on Twitter to stay up to date with the latest in corporate payments.