Financial institutions such as Citizens, Fidelity Investments, and Bank of America are moving towards biometric identification for consumers, who will be able to access their mobile bank accounts with their fingerprints. Banks are motivated to incorporate fingerprinting technology by the demands of their customers, who expect the institutions to incorporate the touch identification already existing on most devices.

Apple’s introduction of the fingerprint scanner on its iPhones has increased the popularity of biometrics for companies who can use the existing infrastructure. Banks are hoping the use of fingerprinting identification will enhance security by reducing fraud; passwords are easy to hack, making identity theft common practice, so banks are looking for safer methods to confirm the identities of their customers. There are still concerns regarding the compromising of fingerprints with duplicates, so security firms warn consumers to proceed with caution.