New York-based cybersecurity startup HyprKey has announced that it will launch phase one of its biometric mobile payments platform on 16 November.

The company says the first phase, which takes the form of a mobile app and web browser extension, is a “sneak preview” for a more advanced fraud-elimination and mobile payments protocol.

“The HyprKey app is our first phase in replacing currently flawed software-based two-factor authentication with biometric-token based three-factor authentication," said George Avetisov, CEO of Hypr Corp.

According to HyprKey’s website, its planned HYPR-3 biometric payment gateway will enable biometric security for any payment method – bitcoin, QR Codes and NFC terminals.

“HYPR-3 is a sticky biometric token generator about the size of a nicotine patch…Peel and stick HYPR-3 to any Bluetooth-enabled device, and you're protected against cyber fraud and identity theft.”

The solution is a three factor authentication protocol. The fingerprint swipe unlocks an encrypted token generator. An encrypted token is instantly transmitted to a user's pin-locked mobile device via Bluetooth. The mobile device transmits the request as a one-way beacon to the cloud and the digital wallet transaction is authorized.

According to the company, the HYPR-3 swipe sensor requires an actual human finger to wake up the sensor. This feature makes it almost impossible to spoof the device, it says. In order to succeed at wrongdoing, a hacker would require physical access to the phone, access to the HYPR-3, knowledge of the phone's PIN, and control of the user's finger.