The selfie has come a long way. Nothing can be a bigger proof than the selfie finding a favour with the payments giants Mastercard.
Under a pilot program beginning in the fall, the credit card company will allow customers to snap a selfie to verify their identities with facial scan technology. The feature allows shoppers to pay by taking a selfie, which an algorithm then compares to a photo an existing photo on file.
So, instead of using a complicated set of passwords and OTPs or fumbling with the credit card digits grid, you can simply click a selfie. Pouting and duckfaces will be strictly optional. Though the customer will have to blink in the picture to ensure that a potential identity thief isn’t just holding up a picture of someone to the camera to gain access.
The credit card firm has been testing selfie software in partnership with the tech firm “First Tech” with a pilot of 200 employees of First Tech in the US and Netherlands. Some 92 per cent of test subjects preferred the new system to passwords.
Mastercard will roll out the selfie verification rest of Europe and other parts of the world soon.
The world of payments is getting a contemporary edge and how. Recently, Indian e-commerce payments platform had launched ‘Soundpay‘, a feature that will allow money transfers using ultrasonic sound waves.