Technology in payments has come a long way. Many companies are trying to develop new technologies to make their services easier. Mastercard has also entered this circle with its new Mastercard Payment System.
According to the company’s press release, Mastercard is working on a new biometric program, “The Biometric Checkout Program”. With this program, the company intends to turn payments into something easy, fast, and “fun”. The technology will allow shoppers to make payments at a store using biometric information such as their face ID, hand, or fingerprint.
Using this technology, retailers will no longer require buyers to drag their cards to the POS to authenticate cash payments. All they will need is their face or hand. The technology is currently in its pilot stage. The first tests are currently taking place in Brazil. The plan is to launch the technology globally before the end of the year.
Mastercard says it plans to release the technology to the US, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East as soon as possible. The company argues that this feature can be integrated with loyalty programs in the future and could help provide personalized recommendations to users based on past purchases.
Security Concerns and the Statement of Mastercard
In order to use this technology of the new Mastercard Payment System, the customer needs to look at the specially designed face reader or scan one’s palm, but prior to this, he needs to have registered in the respective application. In this application, he will have to scan his face and put in his fingerprint. Obviously, having your face and hand scanned on a digital medium means that someone has access to your data. And with hackers and cybercriminals, the question of our data security comes up.
The company emphasizes that customer data entered into its system is encrypted. This means that they cannot be violated. During registration, the biometric information is converted into a “coupon”, ie a random series of alphanumeric characters. This is then linked to the user’s cards. Mastercard also highlights that it has created a set of standards to ensure consumer data protection.
The technology is really promising and can really help the service if the appropriate security measures are put in place. We are waiting to use this new technology in stores.
