Mastercard launches technology that allows payments with a smile or a wave

MasterCard Worldwide is a multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, USA. Worldwide, the business of this company is to make payments between the banks of the buyer and the seller using the “MasterCard” branded debit and credit cards for purchases. MasterCard Worldwide has been a public company since 2006. Since its initial IPO, MasterCard Worldwide has been a membership organization owned by the 25,000+ financial institutions that issue their cards.

MasterCard Worldwide recently launched a program for retailers that offer biometric payment methods, such as facial recognition and fingerprint scanning. When paying, users will be able to authenticate their payment, by showing their face or palm instead of swiping a card.

“No more fumbling around looking for your phone or looking for a wallet when you’ve got it in hand – the next generation of direct payments will be just a smile or a quick wave of your hand. Trusted technology using Using your face or fingerprint to unlock your phone can now be used to help consumers speed up the checkout process.With Mastercard’s new Biometric Checking Program, all you do need to be yourself,” stated MasterCard Worldwide.

Here, consumers can simply check their bill and smile at the camera or wave their hand over the reader to pay. New technology ensures a fast and secure payment experience, and empowers consumers to choose how they want to pay.

The new program also represents a technology-first framework that aims to help set standards for new ways to pay in stores of all sizes, from large retailers to brick-and-mortar stores. The show was released live at five St Marche grocery stores in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Mastercard says it plans to roll it out globally later this year.

“All the research we’ve done has told us that consumers love biometrics,” Ajay Bhalla, Mastercard’s president of intelligence and networking, told CNBC. “They want to pay at a store as convenient as opening their phone.”

About 1.4 billion people are expected to use facial recognition technology to authenticate a payment by 2025, more than double from 671 million in 2020, according to a forecast from Juniper Research.

How it works?

To apply for a Mastercard, you take a photo of your face or scan your fingerprint to register using an app. This is done on your smartphone or at a payment terminal. You can then add a credit card, which is linked to your biometric data. It is similar to the technology being tested by Amazon in the US.

Mastercard said it plans to bring the program to the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia in the near future. In the long term, Mastercard’s vision is to make technology “global interoperable,” Bhalla said. “So once you’ve stored your credentials, you can use it anywhere.”

Mastercard says the feature can integrate with loyalty programs and offer personalized recommendations based on previous purchases. Ajay Bhalla added: “The way we pay needs to keep pace with the way we live, work and do business, providing choice to consumers with the highest level of security. Their goal. My goal with this new program is to make shopping a great experience for consumers as well as merchants, offering the best convenience and safety.”

But is it safe?

The program also sets a set of standards that banks, merchants and technology providers adhere to, helping to ensure the security and privacy of personal data when people pay with biometrics.

Naturally, the use of biometric information for payments raises a host of concerns about privacy and how data is collected. For its part, Mastercard says all data customers enter into its systems is encrypted in a way that ensures their privacy is not compromised.

When you sign up, your face or fingerprint scan is replaced with a “token” – a random string of alphanumeric characters – and then linked to your payment card. Mastercard says it has created a set of standards to ensure users’ data is protected. The company has been working with several other companies to optimize this feature, including Fujitsu, NEC, Payface, Aurus, PaybyFace and PopID.

Preparing for the ‘metaverse’

According to Bhalla, Mastercard’s biometric tools could one day help develop the payment infrastructure for cards.”metaverse“What we’re aiming for is the metaverse,” he said.

Metaverse (virtual universe) refers to a hypothetical virtual world where users can work, trade or socialize. The term has gained a lot of buzz in Silicon Valley thanks to Facebook’s rebranding to Meta last year.