Verdict
Despite the prediction that the global biometrics market will grow to over $24 billion by 2023, only 30% of that growth market will come from North America.
A large proportion of biometric progression is rising from emerging markets – namely Latin America, Africa, and Asia. These regions have shown they can quickly integrate biometric authentication technology into existing banking, government IDs and retail programs.
China is currently the global leader in biometric-authorized payments – their market is transforming so rapidly that cash is quickly becoming obsolete in urban China. In fact, at an estimated $12.8tn, the Chinese mobile payments market is now worth 50 times more than its USA counterpart. At a branch of KFC in Southern China, the brand even recently launched a trial ‘smile-to-pay’ feature. In a store with no cashiers, no tills and near-instant order collection, customers scan their face at a facial recognition self-order terminal and get automatically charged for their meal via the payment app.