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I buy with my little eye

Soon, your face will be useful for more than just looking pretty. MasterCard is developing a new programme that lets you approve online purchases with a simple blink of the eye. And it believes this will cut down on fraud.

At the checkout, you take a selfie on your phone, see your face within a designated circle, blink once, then the transaction is complete.

MasterCard president of enterprise safety and security Ajay Bhalla told CNNMoney that the new generation of selfie takers will embrace the payment method.

The step towards this technology is part of MasterCard’s vision to make passwords obsolete.

The company said that because mobile device payments are going to represent 30 percent of all online retail sales by 2018, it’s got to move with the times.

Since there is the risk of passwords getting intercepted, forgotten or stolen, using biometrics to prove a customer’s identity seems to be the way of the future.

People have already shown they’re receptive to biometrics.

Apple had huge success with its fingerprint scanner to unlock its phones with its iPhone 6 and with its payment method, Apple Pay, which lets you store and use your credit card with a wave of your phone. 

The facial recognition technology will be tested on just 500 users to begin with.

Smartphone makers Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, Google and BlackBerry are all reportedly signed up to trial it.

Emotional purchasing could also take on a whole new meaning, as a person’s heartbeat could confirm a sale.

Aside from facial recognition solutions, MasterCard is experimenting with technology that will recognise your unique heartbeat before approving a purchase.

It is also testing voice and fingerprint recognition. 

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