Providing a thumbprint looks set to be a future alternative to tapping in a personal identification number, amid signs that customers are warming to using "biometric" information when making payments.

With digital technology transforming how many of us pay for things, Visa's country manager for Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific, Stephen Karpin, said the company was working on standards that would make the thumbprint an alternative to the PIN for credit card purchases over $100.

At present purchases above $100 still require a PIN, while lower amounts can be made by tapping a contactless card on a card reader.

Such a shift, which would likely require the involvement of banks and technology firms, is part of a broader move towards "biometric" forms of identification across the financial sector.

This also includes banks taking voice prints and using facial recognition technology, and it is occurring as the number of electronic devices capable of making payments is also ballooning, part of a trend known as the "internet of things".

Mr Karpin said that in the not-too-distant future, consumers would be able to effectively upload their credit account details to the next generation of cars, high-tech watches and even fridges.

In such a world, he said biometric payments were likely to take off, and they came with the benefits of added security and efficiency.

"In this world where you're expected to have passwords for everything, it's not going to be practical to remember all of those," he said.

While some consumers may be uneasy about handing over their fingerprint – it would most likely occur through their smart phone – a survey commissioned by Visa suggests consumers are getting more comfortable with the idea.

The poll of 500 Australians by YouGov found more than half of respondents were happy to use their thumbprint, retina or voice when making a payment.

The same survey also showed a sharp increase in how open people are to using an internet-connected device such as a virtual assistant or even a fridge to make a payment.

Twenty-nine per cent of respondents were ready to use a smart device to make payments, up from 12 per cent last year, which Mr Karpin said was a "rapid" change.

An example of such a change could be a car that allowed its owner to upload their credit card account. When filling up on petrol or paying a toll, the driver could tap their dashboard to make a payment.

"In the next couple of years you will probably start to see examples of cars doing this type of stuff. Within three years I would expect it to be much more pervasive," Mr Karpin said.

Banks are also making greater use of biometric information to identify customers securely, such as when they contact a call centre.

Citigroup's head of consumer banking for the Asia Pacific region, Anand Selva, said the bank has launched biometric software that allowed customers to identify themselves with a "voice print," which had proven popular with customers.

Identifying customers in this way took the bank 15 seconds, instead of 45 seconds over the phone, when staff ask questions such as "what is your mother's maiden name?" to check a client's identity.

"We've moved from fingerprints to voice prints," he said.

Citi is using voice biometrics across eight countries in the Asian region, and he said people were signing up for the service "rapidly".