After an announcement last August and a successful pilot program in October, MasterCard recently announced that the company will begin expanding a feature which allows facial recognition software to act as biometric security in mobile payments (via Fortune). Unofficially dubbed "selfie pay," the program lets users confirm an online payment by holding up a smartphone's camera to their face and blinking to ensure the program isn't being duped by a still photograph.

Tim Cook selfie
The process would take place within MasterCard's own Identity Check app (currently unavailable in the United States) and is built to streamline the verification process of lengthy digital purchases, superseding the need for a MasterCard's PIN number or password with a quick selfie. The United Kingdom will be one of 14 total countries targeted for the summer rollout, but beyond the pilot program's support of First Tech Federal Credit Union, the expansion of supported banks was not listed.

One big motivation behind Mastercard’s expansion of its selfie pay tool is cutting down false declines, which occur when a legitimate transaction is rejected because of suspected fraud. These instances cost the company some $118 billion per year—13 times more than the cost of actual fraud.

MasterCard isn't looking solely at selfies to confirm purchases, however. Last year, the company began testing a feature that worked in tandem with the Nymi band to verify mobile transactions through a user's unique heartbeat. At the time, Nymi said that its biometric technology could potentially be implemented into existing wearables for a wider adoption, but MasterCard's current focus sits on the summer's rollout of its facial recognition feature.

Top Rated Comments

DCJ001 Avatar
114 months ago
" superseding the need for a MasterCard's PIN number"

Personal Identification Number number?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DingoDance Avatar
114 months ago
This sounds like an article from The Onion
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macduke Avatar
114 months ago
I hope this app doesn't let you retake your selfie because I could see my little sister doing this for 15 minutes while in line. I'm not joking. I really hope Apple Pay takes off at more retailers. This would erase all of their fraud concerns while streamlining the entire checkout process. I use it several times per week and it's a breeze—especially on my AW. But I can't blame them for making this at this point in time. It's one of their only options using an app without deeper hardware access. I just don't like the idea of it and think it will slow down checkout time for the rest of us having to open a special app and take a selfie.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69Mustang Avatar
114 months ago
Probably instantly defeated by Live Photos.
If you've stolen the account, look up the user for any selfies. Either hope for a live one, or simply animate one yourself. Would the software be able to identify a "real" blink?
Why are people coming up with ideas that make no sense? How is the camera going to see a live photo? How are you going to leave the payment app to go get a live photo? How a...
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
andycr Avatar
114 months ago
Ok, so get a video of the target, freeze frame them just before a blink and during, and swap between photos one and two every half second or so. Pretty sure that would break their 'security'.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mgmusicman94 Avatar
114 months ago
" superseding the need for a MasterCard's PIN number"

Personal Identification Number number?
Yeah that thing you type into the ATM Machine
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

10 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Thursday October 31, 2024 9:42 am PDT by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 in December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as well. ...
best early black friday deals

The Best Early Black Friday Apple Deals

Friday November 1, 2024 8:21 am PDT by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 29 in 2024. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment,...
M4 Pro on Blue

M4 Pro Chip Benchmark Results Reveal an Extremely Impressive Performance Feat

Thursday October 31, 2024 7:06 pm PDT by
The first Geekbench 6 benchmark results for the M4 Pro chip surfaced today. Impressively, the results that are available so far show that the highest-end M4 Pro chip is faster than the highest-end M2 Ultra chip in terms of peak multi-core CPU performance. Here is a comparison of the results: Mac mini with M4 Pro (14-core CPU): 22,094 multi-core score (average of 11 results) Mac Studio...
Apple iPhone SE 4 5G Modem 1

iPhone SE 4 First to Get Apple-Designed 5G Modem, iPhone 17 Pro to Add Custom Wi-Fi 7 Chip

Friday November 1, 2024 4:04 am PDT by
The iPhone SE 4 that's set to come out early next year is expected to debut Apple's first in-house 5G modem, according to Jeff Pu, an analyst who covers companies within Apple's supply chain. In a research note this week with Hong Kong-based investment firm Haitong International Securities, Pu said Apple is expected to roll out its custom-made 5G modem starting with the next-generation...
ios 18 2 chatgpt plus

iOS 18.2 Beta 2 Shows Siri ChatGPT Limit, Offers 'Plus' Upgrade Option

Monday November 4, 2024 10:54 am PST by
With the second beta of iOS 18.2 that's available for developers today, Apple has further fleshed out the ChatGPT integration that's available with Siri. In the Settings app, there's now a section that shows the ChatGPT daily limit, and offers an option to upgrade to the paid ChatGPT Plus plan. The beta includes an Advanced Capabilities section with a "Daily Limit" reading that shows up as...
M3 Pro Max vs M4 Pro Max Feature

Here's How Much Faster M4 Pro/Max Are for Graphics vs. M3 Pro/Max

Friday November 1, 2024 8:04 am PDT by
Apple's new M4 Pro and M4 Max chips are impressively fast in terms of CPU performance, topping the M2 Ultra, but what about graphics performance? The first Geekbench 6 results for GPU performance are now available for the M4 Pro and M4 Max, and the Metal scores reveal some impressive year-over-year gains. Based on the Metal scores that are available so far, the M4 Pro and M4 Max are up to...
imac video apple feature

What to Expect From Apple This November

Friday November 1, 2024 9:40 am PDT by
After a busy October in which Apple announced new Macs and Apple Intelligence launched, the calendar has now turned to November. Below, we outline what to expect from Apple this month as the slower-but-still-busy holiday season approaches. After seeding the first betas of iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2 with additional Apple Intelligence features last month, Apple will likely...