Samsung introduced its flagship Galaxy Note7 smartphone earlier this week. It is also the first Samsung smartphone to come with Iris scanner that lets you unlock the Note7 by just looking at the phone and authenticate secure purchases that are made on Samsung Pay.
Samsung’s mobile communications president during the Unpacked event in New York to ZDNet said that the company is looking forward to bring Iris scanning technology to mid-end models when the cost of using one comes down.
Iris scanning is an automated method of biometric identification that uses mathematical pattern recognition of images of an individual’s iris, either from one or both eyes.
Samsung recently said that it is working on partnerships with major financial institutions such as Bank of America, Citibank and U.S. Bank to explore the integration of the iris scanner into mobile banking apps.
Regarding the Iris scanner, DJ Koh, President of Mobile Communications Business, Samsung Electronics, said:
We did not put iris scanning in the flagship model just to do ‘unlock’. In the long run, through third parties and API, we want to connect it with apps. For mobile banking, we are thinking of applying iris scanning for large transactions, and are already talking with banks in some countries.
Through continued cost cutting, iris scanning can trickle down to mid-end models. There is a view that Android is weak in security compared to its competitor and we want to expand software security that can overcome this image.