HSBC share price: Lender to roll out biometric banking services by summer

HSBC Holdings Plc (LON:HSBA) is rolling out voice and fingerprint recognition services for 15 million customers in the UK, the bank has revealed.

Biometric identification is set to replace passwords in a bid to make banking easier, safer and more secure for customers of HSBC and First Direct. Voice recognition will be available at First Direct in the coming weeks, followed by HSBC by the summer. Meanwhile, touch ID is already available on iOS devices for both HSBC and First Direct. Customers will need to download the mobile banking app and the instructions to link their fingerprint to it.

HSBC UK’s head or retail banking and wealth management, Francesca McDonagh, said that the move was “the largest planned rollout of voice biometric security technology in the UK”.
“The launch of voice and touch ID makes it even quicker and easier for customers to access their bank account, using the most secure form of password technology – the body,” McDonagh added, as quoted by the Guardian.
Joe Gordon, UK head of customer contact at the lender, said that voice ID would still work if people have a cold. The technology powering the system, which was provided by Nuance Communications, tracks over 100 unique identifiers to identify a person.
“We will be able to cope with people who have got colds or slight impediments. Things such as the size of your mouth or your vocal tract don’t change. Neither do your cadence or your accent when you’ve got those little colds,” Gordon told the BBC.
In today’s trading, HSBC shares were up one percent at 453.50p, as of 10:08 GMT. The stock has fallen 15.4 percent since the start of the year and the company’s market capitalisation currently stands at £89.1 billion.
As of February 13, 2016, the consensus forecast amongst 27 polled investment analysts covering HSBC had it that investors should hold their position in the company. The same consensus estimate has been maintained since January 20, 2016, when the sentiment of investment analysts deteriorated from “outperform”.
As of 11:20 GMT, Friday, 19 February, HSBC Holdings plc share price is 451.68p.