Of more than 14000 people from across seven European countries quizzed by Visa, nearly three quarters see two-factor authentication, where a biometric is used in conjunction with a payment device, as a secure way to confirm an account holder.

When looking at the range of different payment situations at home or on the high street, over 68% want to use biometrics as a method of payment authentication. Online retailers have the most opportunity for gain as nearly a third of people have abandoned a browser-based purchase because of the payment security process.

When asked about the benefits of biometric authentication, half of respondents say that it could create a faster and easier payment experience than traditional methods, while a third like the fact that the technology means that their details would be safe even if their device was lost or stolen.

With the likes of Touch ID making fingerprint recognition familiar, the technology is unsurprisingly the most popular form of biometrics for payments, backed by 53% over other methods. In contrast, just 23% prefer iris scanning, 15% facial recognition, 12% voice recognition and 10% behavioural biometrics.

There is a slight preference for using biometrics in the real world over online: 48% want to use it for payments when on public transport, 47% in a bar or restaurant, 46% on the high street, 40% shopping online and 39% when downloading content.

Jonathan Vaux, executive director, innovation partnerships, Visa, says: "While biometric forms of authentication offer significant opportunities to achieve the right balance between convenience and security, they are not the only answer. In the future we will see a mix of solutions dependent on the purchasing situation."