Mastercard introduced its selfie payment mode earlier this year, it’s a new safety feature that lets users verify online transactions by using biometrics such as fingerprints and facial images. The company did say that this feature – formally called Identity Check Mobile – will be rolled out in the United States at some point in the future. Mastercard has now said that selfie payments will go live for BMO customers in the States starting early next year.
The U.S. rollout has been made possible by a partnership with the BMO Financial Group. Existing BMO customers will be able to opt-in to use this service which will allow them to use the fingerprint sensor or take a selfie to verify their online payments.
The selfie payment mode eliminates the need for users to remember complex passwords and it also speeds up the digital checkout process because users don’t have to punch in their credentials. It improves security as well.
Users will need to download the Identity Check Mobile app to take a photo so that a digitized map of their face can be created. That map is stored on Mastercard’s servers and later used as a reference point when verifying online purchases.
A pilot program for this feature was launched several months ago and the decision to roll it out in the United States was only made after the successful completion of the trial. “Moving this technology beyond the pilot phase is a significant milestone in the evolution of payments,” said Ajay Bhalla, president of enterprise risk and security at MasterCard.
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