Apart from officially announcing its latest phablet offering, the Galaxy Note 7, Samsung also took the opportunity to reveal that its newest smartphone will be the first Galaxy handset to feature iris recognition software as a means for unlocking a device. Along with this announcement, the South Korean tech giant also said that it will take full advantage of a new functionality called Samsung Pass, which will work with the Galaxy Note 7’s new iris sensor in allowing mobile users to safely launch certain apps, especially those that contain the users’ financial info, through iris identification.
In a world that has increasingly become more tied to mobile devices, more and more consumers are doing their banking through their smartphones. Of course, security remains a priority, especially in ensuring that no financial information or any sensitive data is exposed to outside parties in any transaction done through mobile. Quite a number of handsets today already make full use of fingerprint scanning technology. However, tech experts believe that iris scanning technology is a far safer approach to identity verification and data protection on mobile devices.
Of course, the Samsung Pass will still need to be integrated into mobile financial apps. In order to make this happen, Samsung is working with half a dozen different banking institutions such as Bank of America, Citi, US Bank, KEB Hana Bank, Shinhan Bank, and Woori Bank, as reported by Android Central just this week. It is not made clear yet how far Samsung has gone in exploring Samsung Pass’ integration into financial apps, which basically means there is no telling yet how soon the Samsung Pass iris scanning tech will be deployed to banking apps, especially those of the six banking institutions mentioned earlier.
Looking at the bigger picture, the Samsung Pass feature will not just facilitate secure banking transactions through mobile, but more significantly, maybe even help users transition from usernames and passwords to more reliable biometric authentication methods. Sure, usernames and passwords are cool but you can not just steal somebody’s iris ID. In the near future, iris scanning tech can be used to unlock not only mobile apps, but also files, folders, and other information.
When Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note 7, the South Korean phone maker had revealed that its newest phablet will also come with support for the Samsung Pass functionality. Along with an iris scanner, the device also features a fingerprint sensor, which means that those who are looking to purchase the handset can get two biometric authentication capabilities in one smartphone.
