Mastercard: Biometric Authentication Is Soon A Must-Have For Banks

The US credit card company Mastercard has recently announced that customers will soon have an opportunity to use biometric identification. The company expects to make customer shopping experience more convenient and safer.

What does it mean for banks?

From April 2019 all Mastercard users will be able to identify themselves using fingerprints or facial recognition while shopping. It means for banks that they will have to provide their customers with biometric authentication solutions for remote transactions. The same applies to mobile payments with smartphone or tablet.

Customers are favoring the technology

According to a research conducted by the University of Oxford in cooperation with Mastercard, 93 percent of consumers prefer biometrics over passwords. Banks are equally enthusiastic: 92 percent want to adopt the technology. However, only 36 percent of relevant decision makers say they have enough experience.

‘Existing methods to prove an identity online can take shoppers away from a retailer’s website if it is time-consuming or complex. One way to solve that is moving from a reliance on what the consumer knows (e.g. passwords) and what they have (card or smart device), to what they have (e.g. mobile phone) and who they are (their biometrics)’[1], said Mastercard in its press release.

Relevant Open API for ‘Open’ Banking

The 5 Factors Framework[2]

That’s why Mastercard and Oxford University developed ‘The 5 Factors Framework’ in order to help banks successfully deploying mobile biometrics.

1). Performance

Create frictionless, yet secure biometric solutions by combining low algorithmic error rates with a second factor of device ID for a multi-layered solution.

2). Usability

Design a user experience that conveys trust and security while being easy enough to delight even technophobes.

3). Interoperability

Future-proof your solution to work with a range of devices, use cases and methods (face, iris, voice, etc.).

4). Security

Minimize your risk by encrypting biometric templates and ensuring they never leave the user’s device.

5). Privacy

Use cutting edge protection technologies to preserve confidentiality and anonymity even within an authentication system.

For instance, the shift to biometrics meets the EU’s new regulatory requirements for strong authentication (PSD2) and is aimed at ensuring a smoother consumer experience and reducing unjustified declines.

Looking for a banking software development company? Click here to read about Qulix Banking and Finance Solution Development.

[1] 'Biometric identification must be made available for all Mastercard users by April 2019’

[2] 'Overcoming Mobile Biometric Challenges: Mastercard and University of Oxford Collaborate on New Research Initiative’