WEST JORDAN, Utah—The $5-billion Mountain America Credit Union has introduced EyeVerify, a feature on its mobile app that uses a cellphone’s camera to biometrically authenticate a user via an eye scan.
MACU is at least the second CU to make the move to biometric authentication for mobile, a technology that brings another layer of security to a transaction with the biometric verification taking less than a second for the app to scan a member’s eye and log into the account.
EyeVerify uses the existing cameras on mobile devices to image and pattern match the blood vessels in the whites of the eye and other micro features in and around the eye. The app requires a front face camera that only has to be 1 megapixel. It works with glasses, makeup or no makeup and in poorly lit rooms, according to the company.
“Everyone has a unique eye print,” Angie Nelson, public relations manager with Mountain America Credit Union, told MagicValley.com. “It’s not replacing your password, it’s ‘biometrifying’ your password to you.”
Nelson said eye scan technology allows members to skip the hassle of remembering their password. When setting up on their phones, members type in their password only once. Then they scan their eye and save the information on their phone. Every time they access their account, rather than typing in a password, they scan their eye.
“We feel like we serve our members the best if we make it as easy as possible to bank with us,” Nelson said. “This is a great new feature for our members to have.”