Bank of America on Monday announced the launch of QR and biometrics sign-in capabilities through its CashPro app, enhancing the identification and authentication process for its users.

CashPro, which allows businesses to access their payments, cash management and trade finance operations, had more than 44,000 password reset requests come through its customer service team in 2021.

That’s when the realization came that “there had to be a better way,” Jennifer Sanctis, product head of CashPro app in global transaction services at Bank of America, told Bank Automation News. “I don’t need to remember my passwords; my phone remembers for me … so that was the catalyst for this project to get started.”

To leverage the technology, clients download the mobile app, provide and save their credentials, and register their face recognition biometrics, Sanctis said. From there, a QR code tied to the CashPro app is generated at every login. “You scan the unique QR code, and the biometrics will scan right after that, and the next thing they know they’re in the bank,” she said.

The bank has seen 10% of app users use the QR code to sign in since its launch two weeks ago, but expects that number to grow as the function “is still brand new,” Sanctis said. In the first week alone, the QR option had 10,000 sign-ins. CashPro has 500,000 users, not all use the app but all clients have access to the app.

Bank of America’s patented authentication technology, which was built in-house, has driven app downloads, Sanctis said, noting that on Sept. 22 the app saw a new record high in downloads.

“It’s definitely drawing a lot of interest in the app,” she said.

The launch of the biometric function is the first of several enhancements planned for CashPro with more updates to be released over the next 18 months, according to a bank release.

Looking ahead, this is the bank’s first step in biometrics, and Bank of America will continue to look for “ways to improve user identity and authentication,” Sanctis added.