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Global pass rate for biometric checks hits 95%

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February 24, 2022

The average global pass rate for facial biometric checks is 95%, according to research from Sumsub, an online verification platform. For comparison, selfie with ID checks have an average pass rate of around 83%.

Otherwise known as "face authentication," facial biometric checks are designed to protect online businesses from fraud by ensuring that users are truly present during remote verification. Face authentication is also a step toward global digital equality as it lets honest users enter online services regardless of their gender, nationality, income or digital skills.

Based on data collected globally in 2021, Sumsub analyzed the performance of facial biometric checks and differences across countries and devices, along with common failures and manipulation attempts, according to a press release.

Additional findings include:

• In the UK, Japan, Canada, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Singapore and the EU, liveness checks usually take less than 35 seconds. In the U.S., they take about 45 seconds, whereas in Nigeria, Venezuela, Benin, Angola and Israel, the average duration is 1.5 minutes.
• There are differences in the average amount of time needed to complete facial biometric checks for users on different operating systems. For Linux, Windows and Android users, the process takes more than 50 seconds; whereas applicants on MacOS and iOS (Apple) devices need less than 39 seconds.
• 94% of failed facial biometric checks are due to improper conditions. Almost half of these (47%) are due to poor video quality or failure to perform the movements required to complete the check. There are also situations when the user's face is too small (27%) or too large in the frame (16%).
• Possible digital manipulation accounts for almost 6% of all errors occurring during facial biometric checks. Of these, the most common (70%) are bypass attempts such as screenshots, photo manipulation, physical/digital masks, or sophisticated deepfakes and 3D models. Other common attempts at defeating the face authentication system involve the use of different devices or people (16%). The remaining cases (14%) have to do with forced verification and malevolent attempts with devices placed too close to the applicant's face.