Customers of Australia’s St George Bank will be able to use the Touch ID fingerprint verification technology built into the iPhone 5S to log into mobile banking when iOS8 launches in September.

The launch will be “closely followed” by the addition of availability to customers of parent company Westpac and the rollout of the service to fingerprint sensor-enabled Samsung Galaxy S5 Android phones “in the coming months”.

“The new technology will be the first that is widely available in the banking industry and will add further security and ease of use for the increasing number of customers using smartphones to do their banking on the go,” the bank says.

“The finger sensor technology will be one option for customers wanting to log in to mobile banking. The home screen of the St George mobile banking application will have an option to securely use Touch ID or enter other security credentials, such as a security code or access number and password.”

“We are excited to be at the forefront of innovation, providing quicker and easier ways for our customers to do their banking,” CEO George Frazis explains.

“This initiative follows a number of advancements in technology led by St George, including the launch of mobile banking on smartwatches earlier this year and the development of a banking application for Google Glass, which will be ready when the glasses are launched.”

“We have seen a 350% increase in the number of customers doing their banking on mobile devices since we launched our app in 2009,” adds St George CIO Dhiren Kulkarni. “That is why the launch of Touch ID for mobile banking is such an important advancement for mobile banking and for the industry more broadly.”