People today expect services to be available anytime, anywhere, from any device. This almost omnipotent level of accessibility and frictionless experience is made possible by creating what is known as a digital identity.

To date, the creation and management of digital identities has not been without some learnings – we only need to read the headlines to realise this. The expansion of biometrics is providing an incredible opportunity for anyone to gain from the collective experience, and make it better than ever before, for customers.

Most of us have a digital identity whether we like it or not. When we use digital devices, we organically create a blueprint of who we are in the virtual world. This is made up of everything from our tax file number, to our medical history, purchasing habits, online transactions, bank account details and so forth.

However, with rising expectations of accessibility comes an increased sensitivity about how companies use – and protect – people’s data. They want to feel assured their digital identity is secure, whilst still benefiting from the high level of convenience that comes part-and-parcel with sharing personal information.

This is where progressive businesses are turning toward biometric solutions as they look for more sophisticated and robust means of protecting their customers’ digital identities.

Biometrics has already shown to vastly improve the accuracy of recognition results, and provides the advantage of being able to create two or more biometric modalities. Ultimately, this technology will drive change by enabling business to offer enhanced experiences for customers, but also by creating greater security of customers identities; and in-turn, securing their own reputations.

There has already been an emphasis on this in the public sector, from stronger border control to safer cities. Businesses, on the other hand, have been more focused on functional uses of digital identity, such as creating personalised customer experiences and facilitating greater ease-of-use.

And consumers are embracing the technology with open arms. Stanford University’s Future of Transportation report, recently released in partnership with Visa, revealed that 54 per cent of Australians are willing to try facial recognition when commuting, to enhance their experience of a service that has gone largely unchanged for many decades.

As society becomes more digitally literate, people will demand means to protect their data that are less easy to replicate than a series of simple keyboard characters.

Biometrics is already proving to be a powerful tool in enhancing user experience and digitally transforming entire industries. With personal security set to remain under the public’s watchful eye, it will become the way forward to protecting our two greatest assets – our reputations and our valued customers.