Securing Mobile Banking in Zimbabwe through Biometric Authentication: A Practical Framework for Implementation

The rapid adoption of mobile banking is crucial for advancing financial inclusion in Zimbabwe. However, this digital growth is severely threatened by escalating e-banking fraud and cybersecurity risks, often stemming from an over-reliance on weak Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) and inadequate authentication. This integrative review assesses the current security landscape and proposes a robust, Practical Framework for Biometric Authentication. Findings confirm high consumer readiness for biometrics, which is viewed as superior for both security and convenience. The proposed framework utilizes a multi-modal architecture integrating Fingerprint, Face, and Voice Recognition. Crucially, it incorporates mandatory Deep Learning-based liveness detection to ensure resilience against spoofing and deepfakes. Engineered for cost-effective, scalable deployment, this solution is tailored to address infrastructural limitations.