The invention relates to systems and methods for using a template in the authentication process using biometric data. In one embodiment, a module modifies a template of the reference set of biometric data with the candidate set of biometric data when the user is authenticated. In another embodiment, a module modifies a copy of the template of the reference biometric data with modification data thereby creating a challenge template. The client compares the challenge template to a candidate set of biometric data thereby creating a response vector. A module authenticates the user based on the response vector and the modification data.