Do you like your face? Then you’re going to love MasterCard’s new ID Check security system. The experimental feature uses your camera’s front-facing camera and facial recognition technology so that you can pay with your face. MasterCard thinks millenials will love it.
The biometric identification system sounds kind of silly, but it’s definitely more secure than signing a slip of paper. MasterCard’s demo makes it look really easy, too. When paying for something in the store or online, you can choose whether to verify your identity with a fingerprint or an image of your face. If you choose face, you just hold up your phone and blink. (This is so thieves can’t use a picture of you to dupe the system.) That’s it!
“The new generation, which is into selfies… I think they will find it cool,” MasterCard security maestro Ajay Bhalla told CNN. “They will embrace it.”
So there’s the ugh. It seems glaringly obvious that MasterCard is trying to cash in on a new generation’s loathsome obsession with selfies for a silly marketing stunt. However, this pay-with-your-face technology has been kicking around for a few years, and biometric security is certainly a better path forward than crackable passwords. The fact that such a massive company is taking the idea seriously makes good sense. MasterCard will pilot the new facial recognition system with 500 cardholders but says it will inevitably offer it to everyone. The payments giant is even working on pay-with-your-voice technology, just like Google.
Just imagine the bright future when you can pay with any body part. You’ll literally be made of money.
[CNN]
Picture: Shutterstock / Gizmodo