On today's episode, we discuss who is shaking up primary care, how it is being disrupted, why now, and how technology is playing a heightened role in how primary care is delivered. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer digital health analyst at Insider Intelligence Rajiv Leventhal.

Mastercard will bring FinGo’s vein-scanning payments solution to more markets, and Visa is working on a biometric authentication solution for online transactions with the UAE’s Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank.

Visa invested an undisclosed amount into biometric authentication startup LoginID and Amex linked its fraud detection system with platforms from Accertify, Microsoft, and Riskified.

Other examples include autonomous checkout and hand-scan payments (biometrics), both of which may threaten traditional POS devices. These methods may reflect a wider push to enable convenient payments anywhere and in any form. And as technology matures, there will likely be new ways to purchase in-person that require little effort on the customers’ end.

As companies look for ways to blur the physical and virtual worlds, they’ll need better biometric sensors and feedback to measure things like eye and hand movements or gait measurements. In November, Facebook showed off an early version of gloves that would provide haptic feedback so that users could “feel” virtual objects.

For some, keeping tabs on their own biometrics helps them to cope with the uncertainties of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. For others, there’s comfort in knowing that remote clinicians are tracking their disease-related data and will intervene before a physical crisis hits.

PYMNTS cites work by entities such as the FIDO Alliance to create passwordless authorization, with a biometrics approach noted. The big takeaway: Open banking’s growth will be stymied unless consumers feel empowered to handle their financial data and trust that it will be handled appropriately by companies. Improving consent handling will help them leap over this hurdle.

Technologies such as tokenization or biometric identifiers offer promise for authentication solutions. Staying competitive, agile, and responsive is even more critical as open banking breaks down barriers and lets new players—many digitally native—enter the market.

Biometric technology may soon give marketers the opportunity to learn more about their customers and deliver personalized messaging. While this could be a potential boon for business, it also has major privacy implications.

The bigger picture: The growing interest in health and biometric tracking through smart clothing has the advantage of being a more organic and natural platform for incorporating sensors on various points of a body. Clothes and shoes are less obtrusive than watches, fitness trackers, smart rings, and other devices. There’s a potential for disruption, especially in the fitness and fashion industries.

People with chronic conditions tend to use devices that share biometric data with providers more frequently:. Heart rate monitors, sleep monitors, and other internet-connected health management devices are often designed to automatically share data with the prescribing provider.

Biometric-authenticated mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay are exempt from the limit, which they could use to entice users who make higher-value contactless transactions to mobile.

Though most are loath to admit it, retailers already make extensive, behind-the-scenes use of biometrics to track employees, nab shoplifters and improve store security.

eMarketer principal analyst Victoria Petrock discusses how supercomputers and quantum computing can help us fight the coronavirus. She also talks about the adoption of telemedicine and how biometrics are being used to diagnose people and enforce quarantine orders.

Biometric cards. In 2019, major banks began to trial biometric cards, which enhance security by leveraging identity verification—most frequently via on-card fingerprint scanners. Trials continued to ramp up in 2020, although traction is most pronounced outside of the US: BNP Paribas is rolling biometric cards out to as many as 15,000 France-based customers in partnership with Thales, for example.

Consumers’ use and acceptance of biometric technology—especially facial recognition—varies widely, depending on which part of the world you’re in.

For context, Alertive Healthcare’s RPM devices collect biometric data from patients, deliver updates on a patient’s health, and alert providers when a patient’s health becomes critical. Its tools are used across multiple specialties including primary care, cardiology, neurology, and kidney care.

More retailers are investing in biometrics, including behavioral tracking and facial and voice recognition to not only improve store security—and potentially catch shoplifters—but to also target consumers with promotional content.

eMarketer principal analyst Victoria Petrock shares the latest on biometric marketing, including business applications of the latest physiological and behavioral identification techniques.

That means they could share their location or biometric data and earn money for it. It’s unclear whether this will take off, but there are companies working on the idea. Will people embrace the metaverse and Web3? It’s too early to tell, but what’s important right now is that many tech firms and VCs believe in them enough to funnel investments in their direction.

Nearly half of consumers surveyed by Paysafe said they’ve used biometrics—typically based on facial recognition technology—to make some form of payment.

Amazon’s latest payments foray is Amazon One, a biometric-based payment terminal that allows customers to authenticate in-person transactions with a palm scan. Amazon One launched in September 2020, and then expanded into Seattle and New York locations, including some Whole Foods Market stores, in late winter and early spring 2021. Biometric payment authentication is expanding.