Selfie lovers rejoice! It’s the dawn of a new day, at least technologically speaking. Today MasterCard announced it is set to begin testing a verification method that would allow card holders to verify online purchases with a selfie.The app will require card holders to take a picture of themselves each time they make a purchase.
Additionally, MasterCard is also testing fingerprint and voice recognition methods for verification. This new method of payment follows what MasterCard has developed for card holders in the past. Just last year MasterCard rolled out contactless technology, which we are all very familiar with, enabling card holders to activate cards through their smartphones and make purchases using contactless (NFC) point-of-sale terminals. This is another sign that the card brand is trying to get ahead of Apple, who added hardened security to their offerings by adding a fingerprint scanner to passbook back in 2013. MasterCard employees will roll out the technology for testing through October of this year and it is compatible with every major smartphone brand. MasterCard’s thinking? Taking a selfie is easier than remembering a password…
Speaking of passwords, they just might actually become a thing of the past. Microsoft has added the biometrics they so expertly included with their Xbox One gaming platform to Windows 10. In what Microsoft calls Windows Hello you can access your Windows devices (compatible ones) using your face, iris or finger. A password killing operating system is the necessary first step to driving adoption to other equally useful platforms. Biometrics will influence more than just card controls such as ‘selfie pay’, it also stands to boost security offerings through other credit union avenues such as online desktop banking and credit union core systems. The future may be just arriving, finally…
