Mastercard has brought its photographic recognition technology to Europe.
Following trials in the US, Canada and the Netherlands, the facial recognition service has been launched across Europe.
Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK will all see the development offered.
The bank’s new app, Identity Check Mobile, will replace pin codes, passwords or other verification codes typically used on mobile transactions. Popularly dubbed ‘selfie pay’, the app allows customers to verify online purchases by taking a photo.
Users no longer need to input a password to verify their identity when making a purchase – instead, a fingerprint or a selfie gives authorisation.
A specific app is necessary to enable this software; once downloaded, customers take a photo and the service creates a digitised map of their faces.
This is then stored on servers and used as a reference point whenever users go to complete a purchase online.
Each time customers take a selfie for authorisation when shopping, the app prompts them to blink, eliminating the risk of people using printed images of faces for fraudulent purposes.
A delegate from Mastercard said that Identity Check Mobile will “dramatically” speed up online checkout processes “while also improving security.”
According to Mastercard, the technology will be available “across the globe” from 2017.