Consumer would like to pay with a fingerprint

Nine out of 10 participants of the MasterCard and International Card Services experiment, which examines online payments with fingerprints or selfies, say they would prefer these methods to the usual password.

Safer and simpler

750 people entered the pilot project and did not use any pin number, password or other confirmation code to pay for online orders during 6 months. Afterwards, 93 % said they would prefer using the fingerprint method, while 77 % would not object to the facial recognition method.

Many users enjoy the convenience and feel a fingerprint or a selfie is much easier than a password. “We will look into the options to integrate the technology into apps used by banks or technological companies and see how we could facilitate selfie or fingerprint payments”, MasterCard Netherlands Country Manager Arjan Bol said.

The participants are also convinced the system is safe and nearly 75 % believes biometric identification will help limit fraud. “The benefit of biometrics compared to password is its convenience. People tend to forget passwords, making the payment process excruciatingly long and complex. That is why they will slowly disappear and make way for a potentially more consumer-friendly alternative, like biometric identification”, André Ijbema (ICS Manager Risk Management) said.