Mastercard in Talks with UK Banks to Push Biometric Technology

Thursday, December 20th, 2018

Mastercard has been in talks with banks in the U.K. about bringing biometric payment cards to the market. The credit card firm has been testing cards with in-built fingerprint scanners. Used to verify customers’ identities, this is intended to replace the use of passwords. It would also speed up the process of making payments online and contactless transactions in-store.

This summer, a spokesperson from Mastercard confirmed that it was speaking with banks about launching the biometric cards, “The use of passwords to authenticate someone is woefully outdated, with consumers forgetting them and retailers facing abandoned shopping baskets,” explained Ajay Bhalla, president of global enterprise risk and security at Mastercard.

“In payments technology, this is something we’re closing in on as we move from cash to card, password to thumbprint, and beyond to innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence. It’s far easier to authenticate with a thumbprint or a selfie, and it’s safer too.”

This push toward biometrics is not new. In January 2018, the European Union implemented the Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2). This regulation is aimed at speeding up transactions and giving third-party firms access to banks’ customers data, allowing them to build better products.

These new rules require that customers confirm their identity five times after they have made contactless payment. Currently, biometric tech is under trial in South Africa as well. Mastercard’s main rival, Visa, is also testing biometric cards in Cyprus.

The push for biometric technology has placed enormous pressure on banks and major financial services providers. Now, they will need to improve their digital capabilities and open up their data to third-party developers. Overall, the goal of rolling out biometric payment cards is to make payments simpler, improve financial security and tackle fraud.

Internet Merchant Account UK

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