CUPERTINO, Calif.–Credit unions and their technology partners should be prepared for new biometric security demands–and opportunities–with members following Apple’s introduction of the iPhone X.
The new iPhone, which marks the 10th anniversary of the device that has changed the financial services marketplace and how services are delivered, includes a number of new features, including the elimination of the home button and facial scanning to log the owner into the phone.
The latter will most certainly have ramifications for how consumers and members access their financial accounts, and for what they expect in security, as well.
The elimination of the home button on the iPhone X, which comes with a price tag that would require a loan for many CU members–$999–also means the elimination of the fingerprint sensor that until very recently was considered state of the art.
In introducing the new phone, Apple said face detection is more secure than fingerprints, saying there is a one-in-50,000 chance of a random person being able to open a phone with their fingerprint, but those chances drop to one-in-a-million with face detection.
Apple also introduced a Face ID-enabled feature called Animoji, which serves up animated emoji that mimic a person’s facial expressions.
Among other new features of the iPhone:
- An edge-to-edge display with glass on the front and back
- Wireless charging
- A surgical grade stainless steel band around the edges
- Water and dust resistance
- A 5.8-inch OLED display with 458 pixels per inch that Apple is calling Super Retina Display. It supports HDR, has a million-to-one contrast ratio and improved color accuracy
- 12mp dual cameras with image stabilization
At its announcement event at its new corporate headquarters, Apple also announced a new cellular Apple Watch that includes a built-in cellular connection, so it no longer needs an iPhone nearby for most tasks.