Mastercard guarantees biometric authentication services to customers by 2019

Mastercard’s deadline comes as consumers have greater access to biometric ID services through smartphones and tablets, and as part as EU’s regulations for stronger authentication (PSD2). The payments company said all of its customers would be able to use biometrics, including fingerprint and facial recognition, and therefore banks that accept Mastercard payments will have to support these identification mechanisms, in addition to PINs and passwords, to allow customers to make payments remotely.

This initiative is not a surprise as 92% of banking professionals wanted to introduce biometric ID and 93% of consumers would prefer biometric security to passwords, according to research carried out by Mastercard together with Oxford University. One of the advantages identified by Mastercard is that biometric authentication makes it easier for the consumer, and therefore less likely that they will abandon an online or mobile purchase before completion.