The Newest Way to Pay, A Selfie

Published On March 19, 2016 | By Tom Huskerson | News and Analysis
ID-1006567

Photo Courtesy: Chris Sharp

Lets face it, user names and passwords are easily compromised. Credit card data theft and data breaches are commonplace. Paying for anything by credit or debit card is simply a dangerous action and if something goes wrong it could change your life. So what is the alternative? It may be your smiling face that secures your next payment.

On Tuesday Amazon filed for a patent  for an image based payment authentication  system. Pay by selfie may be a future harbinger of  online purchasing. Amazon’s patent uses image-authentication technology to identify the user. The technology demands the user perform a movement or motion to verify the user is alive and not a photo used to possibly fool the technology.

Last year, MasterCard introduced a similar system called MasterCard Identity Check. That system is scheduled to be introduced to the U.S.  market sometime in the middle of this year. China-based online retailer Alibaba is also testing a facial recognition-enabled payment system.

Its no secret that selfies are extremely popular. What is also extremely popular is mobile computing among African-Americans. Blacks use their mobile devices to do banking, shopping and other business more than any other group. But these mobile devices are extremely vulnerable to attack and hacking. Throw in the free wifi or the infected app and you could experience financial ruin. Pay by selfie could be a major payment revolution putting an end to cards, user names and PINs.

But personal authentication is moving beyond user names and PINs with other new technology. MasterCard’s is researching other forms of biometric authentication including electrocardiogram or heartbeat recognition. The company’s conducted consumer trials with the Nymi Band, a heart rate tracker, in Canada and the Netherlands. The biggest advantage of heart rate tracking is that is constant verification by taking readings in the background.

ATMs are also about to see advancements in identification. Chase recently announced it will be introducing card-free ATMs that use smartphones for identification. Using their smartphones Chase customers will open an app enter a pin number that activates the ATM.

Another new ATM being tested by Citigroup also discards the card and PIN but instead allows a user to authorize ATM withdrawals using iris-scan biometric technology and a smartphone.  The technology is being developed by Diebold. The machine is one of two new concepts presented at the Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas.

Like this Article? Share it!

About The Author

Tom Huskerson Bio Born in Richmond Virginia Tom Huskerson is a military veteran who settled in California after his discharge. Tom attended Santa Barbara City College where he began his writing career as a campus reporter. He worked as an intern news reporter for the Santa Barbara News-Press writing feature stories before moving on to San Francisco. At San Francisco State University Tom studied broadcast communications and began to focus on the Internet. He completed his graduate thesis on Internet advertising. Tom was the first student to ever focus on the Internet as a graduate student at San Francisco State University. After graduation he went to work for Zona Research in California’s Silicone Valley. As a research associate Tom supported senior analyst writing on the latest developments in the Internet industry. During the dot com boom Tom worked for several web businesses as a market researcher and analyst. As a writer and researcher Tom has authored various technical works including a training program for Charles Schwab security. Other projects included professional presentations on workplace violence and hiring security contractors. Tom has also written both fiction and non-fiction works and blogging for a travel website. He has published two books of short stories and completed two novels. Tom is the owner of Scribe of Life Literature and EbonyCandle.com. Tom is not the chief editor for the OnTechStreet. com. A news and information blog that focuses on tech news for African-Americans. The blog is the result of his desire to inform the African American community of the dangers and benefits of the cyber age. In his blog Tom reports on information security, new and analysis, scams and hoaxes, legal happenings and various topics that arise from the age of information. Tom believes that technology is a necessary tool for black people and they should know what is happening. Tom writes believing that techno speak is for the professional and that valuable information can be communicated using plain language. As a result he has embraced the motto, Less Tech, More Knowledge.

Comments are closed.