ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com) forecasts US$3.1 billion global revenues in 2015 for biometrics in the consumer and enterprise sectors with much of the growth coming from smartphone solutions.

Existing smartphone hardware provides a relatively stable foothold for some authentication modalities but rapid advances in the biometrics field will drive further smartphone hardware upgrades. Meanwhile, pioneering algorithm design and cloud computing services are transforming user authentication.

Dimitrios Pavlakis, digital security research analyst, ABI Research says: "Biometry is moving rapidly into the security ecosystem and its adoption by CE [consumer electronic] devices will jumpstart this phenomenon. Specifically, smartphone biometrics provide not only a secure alternative for authentication, mobile payments, and BYOD [bring your own device] initiatives but also enhance user experience, navigation, mobility, and versatility."

Market leaders like Apple and Samsung are setting the new norm for smartphone authentication and mobile payments using biometrics. Other companies like AGNITiO, EyeVerify, ImageWare Systems, KeyLemon, and Nok Nok Labs are introducing voice and face biometrics into the landscape and investigating innovative ways of consumer identity management and implementing improved security features.