USAA, a financial services company that caters to members of the U.S. military, is offering facial and voice recognition on a mobile app for authentication and fraud prevention. USAA is home to 10.6 million active and former military members and their families.

USAA members residing in the states will soon be able to log into their accounts through mobile devices using biometric recognition.

This will make USAA the first U.S. financial institution to offer facial and voice recognition on a mobile app as added protection against fraud and identity theft.

USAA members are expected to have access to biometric logon capabilities in early 2015.

Millions of U.S. consumers are the victims of identity theft each year, which is consistently the leading complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission.

Through biometric technology, all stateside USAA members will soon have the option to use their voice or face to quickly and securely access their account information in the USAA mobile app.

This extends the mobile app?s multifactor authentication options to include a unique PIN, face and voice recognition ? all of which work in conjunction with a security code generated by the app for each login.

Multifactor authentication uses a minimum of two factors of identification to add another layer of security.

?USAA is committed to cutting-edge solutions to make our members? financial transactions as secure as possible,? said Gary McAlum, USAA?s chief security officer. ?The use of multifactor authentication through biometrics is one of the most effective ways to increase security protection as traditional passwords become increasingly obsolete.?

USAA?s facial recognition requires users to look at the screen and, when prompted, blink their eyes.

For voice recognition, users must read a short phrase. Following a successful pilot in California, Texas, and Florida USAA will now make these features available to stateside members.

In addition to the pilot states, biometric logon is currently available in Georgia, North Carolina, New York, Washington, Colorado, Maryland, Arizona, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee and Illinois.

Biometric logon is part of a broader effort by USAA to enhance the member experience and security within their mobile app.

The organization recently enhanced the app to provide members the ability to immediately connect with a member service representative using a voice-over-Internet connection instead of a traditional phone call.

?The recent enhancements to the USAA mobile app highlight our focus on the member experience we deliver,? said Carl Liebert, USAA?s chief operating officer. ?We?ll continue to find and develop all solutions that can make the lives of our members simple, easy and more secure.?

The new option will be available through an update to the USAA mobile app for iOS? and AndroidTM devices. Also, USAA plans to test the use of fingerprint identification to log in to the organization?s mobile app.
To learn more about USAA?s mobile capabilities, visit .