MasterCard: 'Selfie pay' coming soon

Bob Reany, MasterCard's executive vice-president for identity solutions, takes a selfie to demonstrate a new biometric app for e-shopping security.

NEW YORK/ST LOUIS: MasterCard plans to commercially launch "selfie pay" in Asia-Pacific markets next year in an effort to improve identity verification, security and convenience for online payments.

With the new biometric system, MasterCard holders in the region will be offered a choice of authenticating credit card payments by either scanning their fingerprints or looking at their mobile phone's camera, said Bob Reany, executive vice-president for identity solutions.

To use the new service, those who live in countries where MasterCard Identity Check Mobile service is available are required to download an application to their PC, tablet or smartphone.

The biometric-enabled payments have been rolled out in 14 countries, of which 12 are in Europe and include Britain, Germany and the Netherlands. The other two countries are the US and Canada.

The technology is expected to be phased into worldwide use next year.

The company is in the development stage for other biometrics, such as voice and iris scans. Innovative technology should simplify cardholders' payments and add robust security, protecting users from fraud, Mr Reany said.

Cybercrime has been growing as criminals develop new and sophisticated malware while digital financial transactions increase, he said.

The number of online and mobile transactions is expected to double by 2020. Therefore, building trust in the digital world is a key mission of MasterCard.

Before the company rolled out Identity Check Mobile, it conducted a survey and found that 92% of respondents expressed more confidence in the new technology to reduce fraud than in password protection, while 93% showed interest in using the technology.

Ed McLaughlin, chief information officer of MasterCard, said financial fraud such as credit card fraud has been rising, so the company focused on security systems by launching several innovative technologies.

The hope is that the technology builds the confidence of consumers, financial institutions, merchants, business partners and governments.

Last year the company opened MasterCard DigiSec Lab, a security research laboratory based in Knutsford, England, to create security products. It has continued to improve security systems, from magnetic stripe cards to chip-embedded cards or devices, Europay, MasterCard and Visa, PIN-entry devices, and contactless, cloud-based payments including digital wallet software constructs.

The MasterCard DigiSec Lab team deconstructs the technology to identify opportunities to strengthen it and continue to protect consumers, merchants and financial institutions from fraud.

The broadened mandate of the lab is to jointly root out fraud and risks by activating its tools, unique broad network view and technical know-how.

The lab works in close partnership with other company groups such as information security, emerging payments and MasterCard Labs to deliver a multi-layered approach to addressing security risks and concerns wherever they may arise.