British market research firm Goode Intelligence predicts in its new report “Mobile Phone Biometric Security – Analysis and Forecasts 2011-2015″ that mobile biometric security will be an essential feature on all smart mobile devices.

This prediction builds on Goode’s previous forecasts that the mobile biometric security market would grow to 39 million users by 2015. Apple’s recent acquisition of fingerprint sensor maker AuthenTec supports this forecast.

Goode reports that vendors have been investing in fingerprint and voice biometrics, paving the way for features like fingerprint sensors becoming standard in mobile devices. This will enable better security for protecting the device and for services such as mobile payments and mobile banking.

The Bring Your Own Device trend may also help drive this market, as organizations that employ BYOD policies will need ways to ensure that any device can be authenticated for business-critical purposes.