Pay with your face: MasterCard expanding 'selfie pay' in 2016
MasterCard wants to make paying for online purchases as easy as a smile.
The credit card company said it will roll out "selfie pay" technology which would allow customers to authorize online transactions with head-shots.
Customers who want to try selfie authentication will have to download a special MasterCard app that will allow them to take a photo each time they make an online purchase. Their face (or fingerprint) will be scanned to prove that they -- not hackers or thieves -- are making a purchase.
The scan will verify that it's a legitimate selfie -- instead of a previously taken photo -- by requiring users to blink when they take their own photo.
The president of MasterCard, Ajay Bhalla, said using facial and fingerprint scans for purchases is safer than typed passwords since some customers use easy-to-guess codes.
MasterCard said it's ready to roll this technology out to 14 countries this summer, including the U.S., Canada and the U.K.
