July 7th, 2015 by Elma Jane
The global brand MasterCard is in the process of launching a pilot program with the help of Google, BlackBerry, Apple, Microsoft, and Samsung to boost security for online payments using facial recognition systems.
About 500 customers are trialing for the new features, participants will provide feedback based on their experience. The company will continue to refine the product until ready to launch. MasterCard confirmed that it is planning to eventually release the new biometric security system publicly.
The payments company is also in the process of securing agreements with two major banking institutions. If all goes as planned, the undisclosed financial establishments will likely participate in the launching of the new security option.
When consumers shop on the Internet, their banks need ways to verify their identities. So this particular product seamlessly integrates biometrics into the overall payments experience, a security expert at MasterCard said.
The system does not actually save a photo of the user during the verification process. Instead, it creates a map of the individual’s face. Afterwards, the map is turned into code, which is sent to MasterCard for confirmation. The facial recognition feature only kicks in when an individual makes an online purchase.
During checkout, users will be prompted to confirm their identity using fingerprint scanning or facial detection.
To prevent criminals from using a photo to dupe the verification process, a user is required to blink once while having his or her face scanned. Technical specifications and mobile requirements for the security feature are still unknown.
With the test of facial recognition, MasterCard seemingly hopes to move away from password-based protocols by providing additional security options for consumers.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Mobile Payments, Mobile Point of Sale, Smartphone, Visa MasterCard American Express Tagged with: consumers, financial establishments, MasterCard, online payments, payments, payments company, products, Security
June 10th, 2014 by Elma Jane
David Marcus, president of eBay Inc.’s PayPal division, plans to leave the payments company to join Facebook Inc. The move is effective June 27. Marcus will oversee the social network’s messaging products division, including the Facebook Messenger app, which lets users send messages to their friends. Marcus had been in his position at PayPal since April 2012. Prior to working for eBay, he was founder and CEO of Zong, a mobile payments provider for gaming and social networking companies that eBay acquired in August 2011. As the head of PayPal, David helped make a great business better, reinvigorating product design and innovation and energizing the team to deliver compelling consumer experiences. Making the move was a difficult decision, Marcus writes in a Facebook post. After much deliberation, I decided now is the right time for me to move on to something that is closer to what I love to do every day. Facebook says it processes 12 billion messages daily and its Messenger smartphone app which consumers can use independently of Facebook even though it is integrated with the social network has more than 200 million users. We’re excited by the potential to continue developing great new messaging experiences that better serve the Facebook community and reach even more people and David will be leading these efforts. Marcus will oversee the social network’s messaging products division, which includes Facebook’s Messenger app. The mobile app has more than 200 million users.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged with: eBay Inc., Facebook Inc, Facebook Messenger app, Messenger smartphone app, mobile app, Mobile Payments, mobile payments provider, payments company, PayPal, smartphone app
