Nowadays, you hear about selfies all day long and soon enough these quick snapshots could become mandatory each time you want to make a purchase or apply for a credit card.
According to The Denver Post, payment processing giant Visa Inc. will launch a platform allowing banks to integrate multiple biometrics into the entire process of approving credit card applications and payments. Specifically, we’re talking about fingerprints, face, voice and many other similar elements.
A more secure way of making online payments
The same source mentions that people will be able to use the new platform in various ways. For example, if they want to apply for a credit card directly from a smartphone, the bank will automatically ask for a selfie, as well as a picture of a driver’s license or passport.
After this, the integrated technology will compare the photos and look for facial similarities, but also checks the validity of the license, everything happening in just a few seconds.
But this is not all, since the selfie could also play an essential role in making online purchases. This will happen due to the fact that online fraud is still a concern, with a lot of online transactions being declined due to suspicious activities, says Mark Nielsen, senior vice president for risk and authentication products at Visa.
And this process will actually be very simple! Instead of the bank having to contact the customers when they have concerns about transactions, the technology will allow users to use the Touch ID feature on their phones (as well as other types of fingerprint recognition technologies) or take a selfie, to verify that they were the ones who made the transaction. This will also work with voice recording, as the customers will be required to speak a certain phrase.
But it doesn’t resume to selfies!
“Customers will be able choose their own preference for biometric authentication: voice, face, finger print. Any manner that they want,” said Tom Grissen, CEO of Daon, one of the first companies who partnered with Visa, before the launch of the new platform.
Finally, we’re very curious to see if this new technology will be implemented at a bigger level in the future, affecting the way we use cash back credit cards or rewards cards.
