MasterCard planning selfie-based payment system

MasterCard is planning to let customers make purchases with a selfie photograph or by scanning their face.

The credit card company is one of many moving towards more flexible and personal payment systems, and follows the launch of Barclays' bPay devices.

The MasterCard face recognition system also follows touch payments from firms like Visa, and application-based options from Facebook, Apple and Google.

MasterCard told CNN Money that this option is safer and easier than requiring people to remember a password.

The firm currently offers an online security measure called SecureCode, which is password-based.

"The new generation, which is into selfies, I think will find it cool. They'll embrace it," said Ajay Bhalla, president of enterprise safety and security at MasterCard.

The system will let people use a fingerprint or face recognition. The latter requires users to stare and blink so that the system knows that it is not dealing with a photograph or perhaps a criminal.

Voice approval is also being tested, according to the CNN Money report.

MasterCard told V3 last year that it was embracing new digital payment methods, including face and fingerprint recognition, citing password problems as a motive.

"We don't want people to remember stuff because they're really horrible at it," said Bob Reany, senior vice president of authentication strategy at MasterCard, at the time.

"Passwords were originally used to get past the guard at the gate, and we really are misusing them. You weren't meant to have 40 of them. It's just not workable."

Reany added that the reuse and misuse of passwords is making this text-based method unworkable.

"There's a big pot gold for the bad guys. They do these attacks on databases of millions of credentials worth thousands of dollars every time you get a compromised card. It's the most attractive thing. You've given yourself a hell of a target," he said.

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• Topics
• Security
• Banking
• Online Banking
• Hacking