PayPal, Intel and Lenovo partner to bring biometric authentication to laptops

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It seems laptops are about to catch the biometric fever as PayPal, Intel, Lenovo and Synaptics are collaborating to introduce FIDO-enabled embedded fingerprint solution to PCs.

A recent Visa study found that 81% of respondents said they would trust payment networks to deliver Biometric authentication payment services – a good omen for PayPal.

The four companies are working together to eliminate the need for passwords on computers, something we’ve been taking for granted on smartphones.

“The average user has to remember passwords for many different accounts, from PC log-in, email to online shopping. We wanted to help change that by freeing users from the burden of remembering complex passwords by providing a simple authentication solution,” said Johnson Jia, senior vice president, PC & Smart Device Business Group, Lenovo.

Brett McDowell, executive director of the FIDO Alliance described passwords as a “universal problem” that is not limited to just mobile devices. He added that Every internet connected device needs the ability to upgrade to simpler, stronger FIDO authentication.

The biometric capability will allow consumers to make payments via their computers on PayPal using their fingerprints. It’s a very interesting period for computer payments, which are gradually being brought up to smartphone-levels of payment convenience.

First, Apple revealing that its Apple Pay service would be coming to computers in Autumn and now research is suggesting that payments made via these OS-Pay methods will hit $8bn annually by 2018, a figure that is 15 times higher than the $540m estimated for this year.

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