2024 access control trend survey: ACaaS, mobile credentials gain momentum

This year's Security 50 access control technology survey, sponsored by ZKTeco, sees tremendous momentum built around access control as a service, or ACaaS, and mobile credentialing, which allows users to access doors with their mobile devices. Meanwhile, touchless biometrics are also gaining ground. This article takes a closer look.

For ACaaS, its suitability and maturity scores stand at 3.61 and 3.37, respectively. This is a slight downward movement from 2023’s 3.86 and 3.8. In terms of access control technologies with the most customer inquiries, ACaaS ranks No. 4; it however ranks an overwhelming No. 1 for access control technologies with the biggest growth potential.

"ACaaS is definitely on the rise, and I believe it's poised for substantial growth over the next few years. While its current maturity levels may score moderately, that's partly because it's a relatively new solution in comparison to traditional systems. As more businesses adopt cloud-first strategies and look for scalable, cost-effective access control solutions, the demand for ACaaS will increase. The ability to manage access remotely, update security policies in real time, and integrate with other cloud-based platforms make ACaaS highly suitable for modern security needs, particularly in industries that require flexibility and multi-site control,” said Tom Buckley, Co-Founder of Qumulex.
 
"Access Control as a Service (ACaaS) is definitely gaining momentum. The combination of ACaaS with cloud-managed appliances has made the transition to modern access control systems much simpler. Organizations can leverage their existing infrastructure and only invest in necessary components, minimizing upfront costs. The cloud-based model also offers significant operational advantages, such as automatic software updates that ensure access to the latest features and security enhancements without additional effort. This approach not only reduces overhead but also provides a predictable update schedule and improved cybersecurity,” said Laurent Villeneuve, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Genetec.

 

We polled readers on the following authentication technologies. Results are as follows:

 

	Suitability	Maturity
Touch biometrics	3.55	4.22
Gesture recognition	3.22	3.14
Mobile credentials	4.21	3.78

 

In terms of customer inquiries and growth potential, touch biometrics and gesture recognition rank modestly, while mobile credentials rank No. 1 and 2 in both categories, respectively. Indeed, mobile credentialing has various advantages. It’s convenient, as users carry their mobile devices all the time. It’s also secure, considering the user is already authenticated when using their smart device, and the communication between the device and the reader is always encrypted. Touch biometrics (mostly fingerprint), while technologically mature, has certain drawbacks such as non-readability for people with soiled fingers (for example construction workers), non-universality (some people’s fingerprint is naturally unreadable) and hygienic concerns, especially in the post-pandemic era. Gesture recognition, which authenticates by gesture people make, is still considered quaint at this stage. Based on the above, we can see that overall, mobile credentialing is the clear winner in authentication technology.

As for touch biometrics versus touchless, we got the following results:
 

2024

	Suitability	Maturity
Touch biometrics	3.55	4.22
Touchless biometrics	4.11	3.84

 
This compares with the results we got in 2023:
 

	Suitability	Maturity
Touch biometrics	3.74	4.05
Touchless biometrics	4.11	3.74

 

 

In terms of customer inquiries, touchless solutions rank No. 2. Basically, we can see the general trend remains where touch biometrics are considered more mature while touchless biometrics are considered more suitable. Primarily, touchless technologies include facial recognition, iris recognition and palm vein recognition. Indeed, touchless biometrics have increasingly become a popular choice for users due to their various benefits. Hygienically, touchless solutions do not require the act of touching and therefore reduce the risk of spreading germs and viruses – a feature that appeals to users in the post-pandemic era. Touchless systems also allow speedier authentication, making them suitable in high-throughput use cases such as enterprises and airports. Finally, since no touching is required, touchless solutions are less vulnerable to wear and tear. Based on these, we expect demand for touchless biometrics will remain strong in the near term.

In terms of unimodal biometrics versus multimodal, we have the following results:
 

	Suitability	Maturity
Unimodal biometrics	3.39	3.83
Multimodal biometrics	3.93	3.68

 
This compares with the results we got in 2023:
 

	Suitability	Maturity
Unimodal biometrics	3.56	3.64
Multimodal biometrics	3.89	3.49

 

 

There is not much movement, but multimodal biometrics clearly outrank unimodal in both customer inquiries and growth potential, indicating multimodal biometrics have more traction in the market. Multimodal biometrics entail the use of more than one biometric for verification – for example combining face and iris or fingerprint and face. Compared to unimodal solutions, multimodality has several advantages. Multimodal biometric systems add an extra layer of security in the authentication process and reduces the risk of spoofing. Multimodality is also more accurate as the system can identify people better with two or more biometrics than one. All this makes multimodal biometrics ideal in applications that are critical in nature, for example border control, correction facilities and healthcare.

We polled readers on different biometric modality combinations. The results are summarized as follows:

 

 

	Suitability	Maturity
Palm print/vein	3.2	3.24
Face/palm	3.47	3.43
Palm/finger	3.2	3.53
Face/finger	3.75	3.92

 

The face/fingerprint combo also garnered the most customer inquiries, making it the clear winner in multimodal biometrics combination. Fingerprint and facial recognition are the two most widely used biometrics in the market right now. Combining them into one terminal makes sense and provides a robust and secure access control solutions for end user. It’s no wonder, then, that companies like Hikvision and Idemia are pushing their fingerprint/face terminals. This, however, does not negate other multimodal combinations. One example is the palm print/palm vein duality that offers many benefit as well. According to ZKTeco, combining palm print and palm vein modalities enhances an organization’s security significantly – the dual factor authentication leverages the visible and hidden features of the palm, greatly increasing the difficulty to spoof or falsify identity.

Ranking of access control technologies, by inquiries from customers
 

Ranking	Technology
1	Mobile credentials
2	Touchless biometrics
3	Touch biometrics
4	ACaaS
5	Multimodal biometrics
6	Dual face/fingerprint biometrics
7	Wireless locks
8	Gesture recognition
9	Dual face/palm biometrics
10	Unimodal biometrics
11	Dual palm print/palm vein biometrics
12	Dual palm/fingerprint biometrics

 
Ranking of access control technologies, by future growth potential
 

Ranking	Technology
1	ACaaS
2	Mobile credentials
3	Touchless biometrics
4	Multimodal biometrics
5	Gesture recognition
6	Dual face/palm biometrics
7	Wireless locks
8	Touch biometrics
9	Dual face/fingerprint biometrics
10	Dual palm print/palm vein biometrics
11	Dual palm/fingerprint biometrics
12	Unimodal biometrics

 
Click here to learn about the market reports and the top 50 rankings.