Mastercard: Banks will offer biometric solutions from April 2019.

Mastercard today announced that consumers will be able to use biometric solutions - such as fingerprints or face recognition - as a way of identifying when buying and paying Mastercard cards from April 2019.

The increasing availability of biometric solutions on smartphones and tablets, the desire of consumers for such solutions and the new regulatory framework of the European Union that require strong authentication indicate that the time for biometric authentication is within the framework of digital payments.

Consumers want biometric solutions

The vast majority of consumers - even 93% - would rather use biometrics instead of passwords for authentication payments, and according to a study conducted by Mastercard and the Oxford University, 92% of banking professionals want to implement biometric solutions. Banks also point out that users are more likely to complete the purchase when using biometric authentication. The withdrawal rate is reduced by up to 70% compared to other methods such as sending a password via SMS.

"Biometric technology is perfectly suited to the expectations of consumers who want innovative and secure payment solutions, in line with the increasingly digitized lifestyle. Therefore - by improving user experience and securing secure transactions - biometrics brings benefits to consumers, traders and banks. Our leadership position in this area shows our ability to adapt to the expectations of consumers, "said Javier Perez, President, Mastercard Europe.

Existing methods of proving identity on the Internet can be complex and take the customer away from the merchant's site. This can be solved by shifting from what the customer knows (for example, the password) and what he has (card or smart device) and approaching what he has (for example, mobile phone) and what is (biometrics). Mastercard has for years been a leader in biometric technology in the payment segment, and is focused on improving user experience and online and offline security.