You could soon make payments using a Mastercard by simply smiling. Yes, you read that right. The American financial company is piloting creative ways to make payments and one of them is smiling at the camera. Another method is waving one hand over a reader to pay.
Mastercard is quickly getting on the biometrics train with its Biometric Checkout Program. This makes sense for the biometric market is expected to touch $18.6 billion by 2026. According to the company, all Mastercards may work with a smile or wave around the world soon, at stores of any sizes – a major retailer or a mom-and-pop shop.
“The program outlines a set of standards that banks, merchants and technology providers adhere to, helping to ensure the security and privacy of personal data when people pay biometrically,” Mastercard claimed in a press release.
Smile-and-pay!
Once available, users would be required to enroll for Mastercard’s Biometric Checkout Program. Once that is done, simply smile at the camera and pay up!
The company also highlighted its benefits for merchants in a press release, claiming it will lead to faster transaction times and improved security. In fact, Mastercard is pitching something in addition to the biometric programme. It believes that this payment system could be integrated into loyalty programmes to help customers discover products based on their previous purchases… which means your data is going to be used extensively.
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The first pilot of Mastercard’s smile-and-pay programme will be launched in Brazil this week in collaboration with partners Payface and St Marche. All St Marche supermarkets in São Paulo will use Payface’s tech to implement Mastercard’s programme. Once registered, users would be able to simply smile and pay at checkout without using a card or a mobile device.
Mastercard claims that it’s planning more pilots around the world with plans for Middle East and Asia in the near future. Even then, critics of biometric authentication are wary of its unintended consequences in the future, like profiling.
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