MasterCard has developed an app that lets its account holders pay for their purchases with a "selfie."
The company is testing out the mobile app that features facial recognition to verify the identity of the cardholder. When an individual pays for the purchased things, he or she only needs to look at the phone and blink once.
According to reports, the blink feature will prevent thieves from simply using a photo of the credit card owner in an attempt to fool the mobile app.
Upon checkout, the app will request confirmation from users to confirm their identity. The users can pick to use either facial recognition or fingerprint scanning to confirm. The mobile scanner will map out facial and fingerprint points and turn them into codes that will be sent to the credit card company as confirmation.
The "selfie" concept was created to reduce the cases of credit card fraud or instances of forgotten passwords. Ajay Bhalla, the man in charge of developing innovative solutions to MasterCard's security concerns, thinks that the facial recognition app will be perfect for the new generation of "selfie" lovers.
"I think they'll find it cool. They'll embrace it," Bhalla said in an interview with CNNMoney.
Currently, MasterCard is using the password system through SecureCode to verify purchases. But with the new set of biometric methods of verification, PIN codes and passwords could soon be replaced.
MasterCard said the new security app was still in its experimental stage. The company plans to launch a pilot study involving 500 customers this fall and if everything goes well, the company will set a public release of the app at a later time.
Aside from facial and fingerprint scanning, the company is also looking into the use of voice recognition, as well as heartbeat reading, to verify identity, according to CNET.
CNNMoney also reported that MasterCard has already partnered with different smartphone giants including Apple, Google and Samsung, and was working out arrangements with two major banks.
