Yahoo Finance Mastercard (MA) Emphasizes Easy Checkout With Biometric Technology
Mastercard Incorporated MA recently rolled out the Biometric Checkout Program, which utilizes an innovative technology that enables consumers to opt for a speedy in-store biometric payment by merely smiling into a camera or waving a hand over a reader.
Mastercard has always been committed to launching a diverse range of flexible payment options (with biometrics being one of them), in line with its aim of bringing more people under the ambit of a growing digital economy. The launch of this recent biometric technology seems to be an upgradation in the area of biometric payments. For introducing and boosting the scale of its new checkout capability across the globe, MA has joined forces with some of its partners, including Payface and PopID, based in Brazil and California, respectively. Aurus, PaybyFace and Fujitsu Limited are the other partners working together with Mastercard to launch the program.
While the first pilot of the Biometric Checkout Program is likely to be rolled out across five supermarkets in Brazil, the Middle East and Asia are expected to witness the pilot program being launched in the days ahead.
The new program will offer great convenience to the consumers participating in the Mastercard’s Biometric Checkout Program. Consumers can make use of a merchant or identity provider app to seamlessly enroll in their biometric checkout services from either in-store or at home. Following the enrollment, they won’t require a mobile or card to conduct biometric payments but simply check the bill and get the payment done by smiling or waving a hand. This, in turn, is expected to result in accelerated checkout experiences. Meanwhile, the checkout capability will aid the merchants as well with faster transaction times and shorter queues.
Despite the numerous benefits that the Biometric Checkout program offers to consumers, the extent of security and privacy that this new technology offers to one’s personal information can be a cause of concern to consumers. It is a well-known fact that the widespread adoption of contactless payments continues to give rise to payment fraud and loss of confidential data. Nevertheless, the new program follows an array of standards observed by banks, merchants and technology providers, thereby ensuring the security and confidentiality of personal data in the context of biometric payments.
Initiatives similar to the latest one seem to be time opportune, considering the consumers’ increasing affinity toward adopting the biometric mode of payments. Per the pioneer in the biometric payment card industry, IDEMIA, 74% of consumers around the globe are inclined to adopt biometric technology. With launches similar to the recent one, Mastercard exhibits its intention to harness the promising growth prospects prevailing in the contactless biometrics technology market. Per KBV Research, the market for contactless biometrics technology is anticipated to witness a 19.1% CAGR over the 2020-2026 period.
Mastercard pursues several partnerships and significant investments to bring about an evolution in the digital payments landscape. Apart from the Biometric Checkout Program, Shop Anywhere, Enhanced Contactless (ECOS) and Cloud Point of Sale are other noteworthy technology innovations rolled out by the company to offer seamless, flexible and safe in-store outcomes for consumers and merchants.
Not long ago from the latest move, another industry player, Visa Inc. V, agreed to partner with PopID (one of the companies that Mastercard is working with to introduce the Biometric Checkout Program) to set up facial verification payment acceptance in the Middle East region with an aim to increase security and boost innovation in the payments spectrum. Meanwhile, Visa, being a trusted payment facilitator, has more than 25 digital currency wallets linked to its systems. This reinforces the belief of individuals in increased usage of crypto and digital currencies. V’s portfolio comprises biometric payment cards.
Other companies such as PayPal Holdings, Inc. PYPL and American Express Company AXP resorted to launching several contactless payment solutions and concurrently have a comprehensive portfolio of fraud detection solutions in place.
PayPal enables customers to trade cryptocurrencies, which can be done through the company’s digital wallet. Being a secure gateway, PYPL provides biometric and QR-based payments to its customers. PayPal made substantial investments to utilize blockchain technology for boosting digital identity capabilities and minimizing fraud incidence.
American Express has been making every effort to boost its digital solutions suite for assisting its merchants and Card members globally. A unit of AXP named Accertify launched an API-based solution for controlling fraudulent online account openings and account takeovers.
Zacks Rank & Price Performances
Shares of Mastercard have lost 5.7% year to date compared with the industry’s decline of 11.9%. MA currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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Shares of Visa, PayPal and American Express have lost 5.6%, 57.7% and 2%, respectively, on a year-to-date basis.
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