Visa conducted a survey in Europe regarding biometric authentication.

One of the outcomes of the survey was that 42% feel biometrics would be better than having to remember numerous passwords. Of those over 65, the percentage climbs to 48%.

Some of the other findings: 53% said that they prefer fingerprint authentication. Only 23% said they’d prefer iris scanning, and even fewer said they would prefer face recognition (15%), voice recognition (12%), or behavioral biometrics (10%).

When it comes to the most secure methods, 73% of Europeans feel that fingerprint biometrics along with a pin or password would be the most secure. The survey also showed that when it comes to storing biometric data, Europeans are more trustworthy toward banks (57%) than the government (33%). Respondents felt that governments tend to get hacked and the data stolen.

However, if biometrics and a pin or password is used, a hacker would have to steal both in order to compromise a user account. Two authentication factors should always trump using just one, assuming they are both relatively strong on their own.

Source: Toms Hardware