Selfies are Entering the Banking World as a Mastercard Security Initiative

The financial services company now offers users the chance to set up a “SecureCode“, which is essentially a password required to authenticate purchases online. Presumably, someone who has swiped your card might have access to your important card numbers, but they aren’t going to know your PIN.

With the test of facial recognition, MasterCard seemingly hopes to move away from password-based protocols by providing additional security options for consumers.

Chief Product Security Officer with MasterCard, Ajay Bhalla, says that the younger generation will be more likely to take this on.

The security researches working with MasterCard think that blinking is one of the best ways to stop thieves from fooling the system with just a picture.

MasterCard said a pop-up will ask for authorisation after people buy something. Judging by my iPhone 6’s fickle fingerprint scanner, biometric technologies are far from ideal. The image of your face never actually leaves your phone, but it is converted to a digital code that is sent to Mastercard’s servers for verification. MasterCard is initiating a pilot program to test the viability of facial recognition for approving transactions.

Trialing for the new feature includes 500 customers. To verify the identity of the buyer and confirm that they are not just using a photo for the facial scan, the app will ask the person to blink while facing the camera.

MasterCard’s representative told CNN that it has partnered with all major smartphone makers, including Samsung, Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Blackberry. Some companies such as Apple have introduced biometric security that uses your fingerprints.

If you choose fingerprint, all it takes is a touch. Google launched facial recognition on Android phones and met many glitches in its earlier stages such as photographs substituting someone’s face. All fingerprint scans will create a code that stays on the gadget. Facial scans will convert the data into an algorithm to be stored securely by MasterCard. The cutting-edge solutions to identity theft teeter on the edge of cool and creepy; some security experts call it “awful” from a privacy standpoint.