63% of Consumers Prefer Credit Card Verification By Fingerprint Over PIN, Signature or Photo

Unisys poll of U.S. adults finds a fondness for fingerprints.

A recent online poll by Unisys finds that consumers trust fingerprint biometrics over photo identification, PIN numbers or handwritten signatures to verify their identities when using a credit card or requesting personal information. The results indicate increasing consumer acceptance of biometric technologies to secure financial transactions and combat identity fraud.

Responding to the question, "Which do you believe is the safest method to prove your credit card is being used by you?" the online poll found that 63 percent of more than 300 respondents preferred fingerprints as the best method for identity verification and authentication as compared to photo identification (20 percent), PIN numbers (13 percent) and handwritten signatures (six percent).

"As we move to an increasingly digital era, traditional methods of identity verification will no longer be sufficient," said Bryan Ichikawa, vice president of identity solutions, Unisys. "As our poll shows, biometric identification is a valid and preferred method of identity authentication which could prove valuable in a variety of fields even beyond banking such as in healthcare and transportation security."

These findings complement results of the April 2010 Unisys Security Index which revealed similar findings in most countries surveyed. For example, the April survey found that 93 percent of Americans are willing to supply a biometric to increase physical safety at airports. Sixty-five percent of Americans responded they would cooperate with full electronic body scans at the airport and 55 percent would be willing to submit to identity checks using biometric data such as iris scans or fingerprints.