Photo from open sources.
The company said its biometric verification program will allow a shopper to scan their face using a retailer’s smartphone app and match their image to a bank card stored on file. This technology is comparable to how Apple’s iPhone uses FaceID to confirm payments or unlock the device.
“When the pandemic hit, we saw everyone go digital and consumers embrace new technology,” Ajay Bhalla, president of Mastercard Cyber & Intelligence, said in an interview. “In fact, consumers around the world have been asking us for this for their retail purchases.”
The pilot program began this week at five St Marche supermarkets in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo, Mastercard said in a statement. Stores will use an app developed by Brazilian startup Payface, one of the businesses that Mastercard is promoting through its Start Path engagement program.
In terms of hardware, Mastercard works with companies such as NEC Corp. and Fujitsu General Ltd., and plans to expand internationally soon.
“We have the Middle East and Africa, Asia and Latin America,” Neely Klenoff, senior vice president of product innovation at Mastercard, said in an interview. “We’re really looking forward to using this solution everywhere.”
She said additional features are in development that could use the technology. Age verification when buying restricted items in a store “is actually something we’re starting to explore and that’s really important to us,” she said.
Facial recognition is just one of many technologies that retailers, banks and payment companies are testing to eliminate cash and reduce fraud.
Amazon.com has a system that uses in-store cameras to track what shoppers put in their cart and charges when they exit stores in the US and UK. The system attracted interest from the British J Sainsbury Plc, which installed it in a trial store, and from Starbucks Corp. there is also a cafe in New York using such a system.
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