MasterCard puts ‘selfie pay’ into production

Following a successful pilot of authenticating mobile transactions with facial photos and fingerprint biometrics in 2015, MasterCard is bringing the new technology mainstream.



Dubbed “selfie pay” and initially tested with employees of First Tech Federal Union in summer and fall 2015, the solution is delivered via a special MasterCard app that lets customers take a photo each time they make an online purchase. They are required to blink during the photo to prove it is being taken live.



Alternatively, the app will let users of select devices identify themselves via mobile fingerprint scan. The technology, which is expected to be rolled out in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and parts of Europe in the coming months, is designed to replace password authentication. Mastercard also plans to test authentication via heartbeat, iris scan and voice recognition.



The increasing sophistication of mobile devices will allow highly personalized, biometric authentication if mobile and online, as well as in-store, transactions. Passwords may someday become obsolete not just for transactions, but for general online authentication. Even this type of confirmation of the person making a mobile purchase is not foolproof, but harder to fool or hack into than a password-based system.