Pay-by-selfie, pay-by-fingerprint: Coming your way soon after MasterCard's Dutch experiment
New MasterCard techniques for checking a buyer's identity are being introduced in North America and the UK this year. But most of its pilot data comes from testing in the Netherlands. MasterCard is rolling out its new mobile payment verification services, pay-by-selfie and pay-by-fingerprint, this year in Canada, the US, and the UK. The company hopes to simplify the online shopping experience for MasterCard holders at a time when retailers are beginning to complicate it with extra security measures at checkout.Retailers in the US and the UK are implementing security checks, such as 3D Secure and Verified by Visa, during the online checkout process. But the checks may obstruct the shopping experience, which can translate into lost sales.In the UK, 18 percent of online shoppers abandoned their baskets due to "excessive payment security checks" in 2012. And in the US, companies lost $118bn in potential sales in 2015 due to "false positives", transactions that are wrongly declined because financial institutions incorrectly associate them with fraud.The pay-by-selfie and pay-by-fingerprint concepts propose a simpler alternative to these security steps at checkout. Called biometric authentication, a banking customer's photo or fingerprint could replace these cumbersome checks.Artificial intelligence in your shopping basket: Machine learning for online retailersAI techniques are becoming part of every day computing: here's how they're being used to help online retailers keep up with the competition.Read MoreThe Apple Pay platform on iOS already gives iPhone and iPad owners the option to authenticate payments with a fingerprint at select online retailers and stores.On Android devices that have built-in fingerprint sensors, such as Samsung's smartphones and tablets, users can use Android Pay or Samsung Pay to make payments with fingerprint authentication. All these platforms already work with MasterCard credit cards.MasterCard's new platform, called the Indentity Check app, gives its cardholders the option to pay with a selfie, as an alternative to the fingerprint. MasterCard holders at participating financial institutions can install MasterCard's the Identity Check app on their mobile devices, but it will only work for online purchases, not at physical retailers.