Blog
Blink and you'll get it!
Picture this: MasterCard is piloting a security scheme that will approve bankcard purchases with a selfie — and a blink.
July 22, 2015 by Richard Buckle — Founder and CEO, Pyalla Technologies, LLC
I'm not sure whether the dog days of summer have come a little early this year or not, but checking out a couple of recent headlines makes me wonder what the news desks of some publications are really up to. Putting to one side the news that weary Greeks are stashing away bitcoinseven as Brazil gets a taste for donuts. (Maybe it's just me, but me do donuts and humidity really go together?)
An NCR press release expounded that Dunkin' Donuts stores in Brazil are "using NCR restaurant technology and cloud solutions to more easily manage daily transactions and gain insights about store performance." I can only imagine the outcome should someone crack NCR's cloud security amd reveal just who is consuming the most donuts on any given day.
But these revelations are all quite trivial compared with the big story of the month: MasterCard is promoting selfies as an integral component of its latest plan to improve security.
"In what sounds like a dangerous mix of security and the trendy, MasterCard has announced that it will start trialing a new payment authentication method — namely using a selfie to verify an online transaction," one article said, while noting that the search for "alternative methods to replace the clunky password is nothing new." As for specifics, MasterCard said, "The pilot scheme will kick off later this year come the autumn, involving around 500 participants."
Waving my smartphone around to get the best picture of me so that I can be authenticated seems a challenging task. And no matter the sophistication of the facial recognition software, I know certain family members who wouldn't be caught dead taking a selfie without being truly presentable. My own mother would never contemplate such a thing. Anything less than a killer visage and she would have no part of it.
So, will this spur a new lease on life for cash among a certain, shall was say, somewhat more mature demographic? When I approached my wife on the matter she said forget it — she's not going to have any "unedited photos" of her stored in the ether.
But how to make sure it really is you in the selfie and not just a billboard photo of your favorite rock star? "If you go with facial recognition, you stare at the phone — blink once — and you're done," A CNN report explained. "MasterCard's security researchers decided blinking is the best way to prevent a thief from just holding up a picture of you and fooling the system."
Blinking? This adds a whole new meaning to "who blinks first" when standing before a store cashier. However, given today's concerns over all things security-related is it really such a bad idea? Or is it just another way to get a much younger demographic to choose plastic over cash?
It would seem that this technology isn't just the preserve of MasterCard, though. Also in the news this month was a story that ATMs in China are beginning to check out our good looks, properly made up or not.
According to a related story in the U.K. Daily Mail, "If the face of the user does not match the ID photo that is used to open the account." And this leads us to the all-important discussion of where the photos end up being stored.
Familiar as he is with the Americas, OmniPayments CEO, Yash Kapadia, was only too happy to share with me his views on this emerging trend:
Verification of who is actually performing any financial transaction is going to require different processes according to geography as well as demographics. Clearly, there will be those in our community who have no idea how to take a selfie if their lives depended upon it, let alone relying on it to help keep themselves financially whole. Likewise, in the markets where I am active, most consumers looking to pull funds from an ATM don't even possess a smartphone, let alone are astute enough to juggle multiple machine interfaces. To ensure those performing a financial transaction are really who they say they are cannot depend on a one-solution-fits-all.
As for MasterCard, Yash said:
While I am intrigued by the approach being taken by MasterCard, as I have read about it in the press, I am still seeing the need for biometric support continue to grow among my clients in emerging marketplaces. And to make this work effectively and efficiently, I am a strong believer in the validation process being server based; not just a one-step process on a local device — there has to be more engagement with the payments processor than that to be really secure. But again, video selfies as a verification tool, I'm sure that will prove appealing to some sections of the market.
As with all new ideas, consumer acceptance will be the real test as to whether an authentication model that involves selfies will develop traction in the marketplace. While it's too early for me to pass judgment, I will be watching to see what eventuates. In today's world, the varying needs of differing demographics means we all need to be creative and for that, I truly do applaud MasterCard even as I wonder, who else knows about my donut habit?
illustration istock
About Richard Buckle
Richard Buckle is the founder and CEO of Pyalla Technologies, LLC. He has enjoyed a long association with the Information Technology (IT) industry as a user, vendor, and more recently, as an industry commentator, thought leader, columnist and blogger. Richard participates in the HPE VIP Community where he is part of their influencer team.
