British consumers are twice as likely to trust banks as government agencies to store their biometric information, such as fingerprints and iris scans, according to a new survey.

The latest Visa Biometrics Payments study found that 60 per cent of the 2,000 Brits surveyed trusted banks to keep their biometric information safe, compared to 33 per cent who trusted government agencies.

When asked who they would trust to offer biometric authentication as a service to confirm identity, the largest number of respondents selected banks (85 per cent) and payment networks (81 per cent), ahead of global online brands (70 per cent) and smartphone companies (64 per cent).

The popularity of using biometrics as a method of payment authentication has grown substantially, particular amongst the younger generation, Visa noted. For example, a quarter of respondents aged between 18 and 24 said that they would consider switching banks if their provider did not offer biometric payment services.

In terms of the different types of biometric authentication, 80 per cent of those surveyed said that they were most comfortable with fingerprint recognition.

Fingerprint authentication (88 per cent) was also viewed as the most secure form of payment, ranking higher than other biometric authentication options such as iris scanning (83 per cent) and facial recognition (65 per cent).

Kevin Jenkins, UK and Ireland managing director at Visa, said: “Banks have a tremendous opportunity in this payment revolution. From trialling voice recognition to behavioural biometrics for authentication, we’re already seeing banks – both High Street and challenger banks alike – making positive steps to adopt this technology in a variety of use cases.

“This consumer confidence in both authentication as well as the storage of their biometric data gives banks the perfect win-win scenario, enabling them to provide a service that the public wants which will also benefit the banks themselves.”

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