Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 7 is still hogging the stage at Samsung’s official Unpacked 2016 event, and new features are being revealed by the minute. One of the handset’s flagship features, an infrared iris scanner that can get you into your phone via an iris scan in almost any lighting, is not officially supported in Android, so it can only be used with apps that Samsung designs to integrate it. Fortunately for those who tend to do some of their banking from their mobile device, one of those apps is called Samsung Pass, and it will allow you to access mobile banking through a number of partner banks using your eyes.
While the Galaxy Note 7’s iris scanner having limited support could be a bit of a bust for the phone, Samsung is looking to help mitigate the damage with Samsung Pass. It was hinted that other functions may come in the future, but at its debut, Samsung Pass will be integrated with a number of partner banks, including the likes of Bank of America and Citibank, to allow Galaxy Note 7 owners to do things like check their balance and make transfers without having to type in a password or use a fingerprint scanner. Using the phone’s iris scanner to verify a user’s identity for many of the same purposes that the fingerprint sensor is currently used for seems like a logical direction to proceed in, and Samsung Pass is the first step in that direction.
For now, with only banking supported and not many details about how it works, those wanting to use Android Pay, PayPal, or the ability to authenticate purchases on the Play Store will likely still have to forego the iris scanner and use either their fingerprint or a password. Just as fingerprint scanners received native support in Android 6.0 Marshmallow, however, iris scanners may end up making their way into the mainstream and eventually getting wider support in a similar fashion. By all reports, the Galaxy Note 7’s iris scanner is fast, accurate, and can work even with glasses on, making it the ideal bioauthentication platform for owners of the Galaxy Note 7, so long as support for it continues to spread.
