The fact that fingerprints can be used to identify an individual has been known since ancient times, with records suggesting the concept to be in practice in Egypt as early as 2,000 BC. By the 1920s, governments around the world were widely using these features as proofs of identity. Then, people were simply made to cover their fingerprints with ink, for their impressions to be recorded on plain paper. With time, the science of capturing, storing, and analyzing fingerprints has advanced significantly, with electronic means now being more widely used.

Thus, with the growth of this practice, P&S Intelligence expects the fingerprint sensors market value to rise from $3.8 billion in 2019 at a high 13.6% CAGR between 2020 and 2030 (forecast period). For the longest time, fingerprints have been leveraged by governments for employee and citizen enrolment and verification. They are used for enrolling people for ration cards and other public services and during criminal investigations. However, now, the practice has become popular in many other industries, such as consumer electronics, corporate, banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI), hospitality and healthcare, retail, and automotive.

Apart from government, the BFSI sector is rather significant from the point of the usage of fingerprint identification. Since this industry deals with money, security is of the highest importance here. Therefore, the identity of an individual must be firmly established before any new account is opened, funds are withdrawn, or loan is issued. With the increasing incidence of thefts causing banks millions of dollars in losses, this industry is increasingly using swipe and area/touch sensors to capture the patterns, folds, arches, and whorls on people’s fingertips, to ascertain their identity.

Earlier, these components were majorly used at BFSI institutions themselves, with company employees scanning the fingerprints of customers. However, with further enhancements in technology and their miniaturization, they are being increasingly integrated into payment cards. Both Visa and Mastercard have launched biometric credit/debit cards with embedded fingerprint sensors; only once the chip on the card authenticates the fingerprint of the user is the transaction approved. In an era when these cards and the user information stored on them can be easily duplicated and changed, fingerprint sensors offer an added layer of security.

Moreover, the fingerprint sensors market is also driven by the growing demand for advanced consumer electronics. These components are a common feature of modern smartphones, tablets, and laptops, used primarily to unlock the screen or sign-in to the user account. Further, an array of mobile apps can be synchronized with the phone’s fingerprint sensor for signing-in. Since a lot of people have BFSI and healthcare apps on their phones apart from contacts, such components have become an important security feature.

Till now, most of the fingerprint sensors embedded into smartphones and tablets are incorporated either on the backside or the side edge. However, they have raised customers’ eyebrows as such an incorporation destroys the device’s appearance. Thus, with modern and sleek smartphones and tablets in trend, fingerprint sensors are being embedded into the device display, but in a way that they are invisible to the naked eye. Only when the screen unlock button is pressed does the fingerprint icon appears on the screen.

Because of all these reasons, the highest revenue to the fingerprint sensors market is contributed by Asia-Pacific (APAC). Most of the consumer electronics are produced in China, India, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, which creates a high demand for these components. Similarly, the vast population of the region necessitates their usage for government purposes. For instance, when the Indian government had the Aadhaar cards made, everybody’s fingerprints were scanned and incorporated into their individual citizen profiles.

Hence, with the changing security and identity authentication requirements, the usage of fingerprint sensors will grow.