A Pilot Program by MasterCard is Moving Onto The Next Phase

A Pilot Program by MasterCard is Moving Onto The Next Phase

Instead of paying through classic PIN MasterCard allows users to authenticate and authorize payments using biometrics. A Pilot program is also moving into next stage by MasterCard.

The People in Netherlands and the US can only use the MasterCard's pilot program since it was launched last year in June. By using four new distinct techniques users are allowed to pay for goods.

About Innovative Payments Pilot Program,

In order to enter the program, either users can use MasterCard-issued wristbands or install a special MasterCard app on smartphones.

With the help of these tools, users can authorize the payments by any  of the 4 techniques as following:

• By measuring their cardiac rhythm (via the wristband).
• By Placing a finger on their phone's camera (fingerprint recognition).
• Taking a selfie (face recognition).
• By speaking a code (voice recognition).

MasterCard announced at the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona that "By this summer, the payments options and the pilot program will be expanded to more countries."

The countries list includes the following: (Spain, Italy, UK, Belgium, Finland, Denmark, France, Germany, Canada, Switzerland, and Norway).

Is Payment through Selfie-Approved Safe?

"The new biometrics-based payments service has been created in order to provide user data safe" said by MasterCard. According to the company "fingerprints, voice commands or no selfies are sent to the servers for storage. And it is transformed into ones and zeros by the mobile app,"

The code which is being sent to MasterCard's servers will be processed and analyzed for similarities to user's default biometrics. 

But some of the Security experts are not looking forward to verification systems of biometrics-based payment because if anyone changed the passwords and PINs then that can be compromised in a data breach, and it is very difficult to change the face and voice if the biometrics data has been lost.

Cardholders can authorize the transaction by holding up their phones as if taking a selfie and blinking if they purchase online from a merchant that needs identity verification; it ensure that a cardholder is an alive person, not just a photograph, instead entering a password or PIN.