Privacy

It’s sort of there, but maybe more to protect from criminals than abuses of authorities. All of my bank apps require a second authentication to launch or even to switch back to them.

Granted I could turn it that off or set it to biometrics, but I leave it on PINs. A criminal wanting to steal from my bank account will need both my biometrics to unlock my phone and a different PIN per bank.

This even provides some protection from the $5 wrench they’d use. Sure, I’ll unlock my phone at the threat of real violence. But you won’t know ahead of time what banking app I have or even how many, so you may not get them all. Pay by phone may use the same biometric but I can likely dispute those charges after the fact

In the abuse of authority scenario, that may keep them out of my bank records but there are established paths to get that from the bank so they’re less likely to be interested. I’m sure they’re more interested in violating the privacy of my friends and family