İşbank, Turkey’s largest private bank, has integrated Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint authentication technology into İşCep, its mobile banking app.

The new functionality removes the need for users to type in a PIN when opening the app, which speeds up log-ins. This is the first time Touch ID has been used in Turkish mobile banking.

Instead of PIN input, users swipe their finger, whose print is then verified by comparing it with the fingerprint stored on the Apple device.

Touch ID authentication for İşCep is available on iOS 8 for Touch ID-enabled phones (iPhone 5S and subsequent models).

The latest version of the Apple OS also opens up Touch ID to developers.

Apple is not the only handset vendor to sense a market in user authentication via a mobile device. Huawei has built biometric security into its Mate 7.

Integration of the new feature also had input from Monitise, the UK firm which designed and developed İşCep. The app has over 1.2 million users. Monitise estimates thousands of these users possess iPhones that are compatible with Touch ID authentication.