Security never plays well with convenience. Or so we thought. As companies strive to make the life of users seamless and easier in every way possible, security becomes a primary concern. Two-factor authentication and OTP introduces an additional layer of security but at the cost of ease of use. But Samsung is out to change that belief. The Korean conglomerate won the hearts of a lot of excited consumers with the unveiling of the flagship Samsung Galaxy Note 7. Although being referred to by analysts as less practical, the iris scanner in a consumer phablet is a technological marvel for many. Samsung has been able to integrate the technology seamlessly into the Galaxy Note 7 without compromising on the looks of the device. And it works as advertised on the software part as well, offering an added layer of biometric protection to the Galaxy Note 7.
Samsung Pass is a feature that allows an application to use the fingerprint sensor with an API. The South Korean tech giant has also integrated the new iris-scanner authentication method into Samsung Pass, making it easier for banks to utilize the iris scanner to grant users access without keying in credentials. And now, top Brazilian banks are already looking into utilizing Samsung Pass to allow users to authenticate themselves using the iris scanner as a replacement to keying in credentials. According to the senior head of mobile products at Samsung Brazil, the company is already in talks with Brazilian banks to help integrate iris scanning as a way to log in. No banks were named by the official, but Bradesco might be a good guess as they were the first in the country to enable fingerprint authentication.
Iris scanning is more secure and harder to replicate than fingerprint scanning. It is also touted to be more accurate than fingerprint scanning, although it has its caveats of having proper lighting or not playing well with glasses. The biometric data from the iris scanner is encrypted and stored in the device, secured by Knox to be matched with the data while identifying the user. The collaboration with local banks to support authentication with iris scanning will prove to be a significant boost to the popularity of iris-scanning feature and at large, the Galaxy Note 7 itself. The new flagship phablet is set to launch in Brazil by September 2016.