Mastercard has unveiled a comprehensive strategy to eliminate manual password and card number entry from online transactions by 2030, as part of a broader initiative to enhance payment security and user experience. The announcement follows the company’s recent rollout of its Payment Passkey Service, which has already begun replacing one-time passwords with biometric authentication in several markets.
The financial services giant currently tokenizes approximately 4 billion transactions monthly, representing a 40-fold increase over the past six years. The tokenization process replaces sensitive card data with unique digital tokens for transaction processing, significantly reducing the risk of fraud and data breaches.
A key component of the strategy involves implementing biometric authentication methods, including facial recognition and fingerprints, to streamline the checkout process. The approach follows industry trends driven by PSD2 regulations, which have accelerated the adoption of biometric payment authentication in Europe. The company is also introducing single-use cards that can be generated within banking apps, allowing consumers to create and control temporary payment credentials for specific transactions.
The initiative includes the rollout of Mastercard 1 credential, enabling consumers to manage various payment preferences—including credit, debit, prepaid, and buy now pay later options—through a single credential backed by one token in their banking application. The development marks a significant advancement in Mastercard’s ongoing efforts to simplify digital payments while maintaining robust security measures.
In collaboration with AMP Bank, Mastercard is implementing multimodal biometric authentication, requiring customers to use both face ID and fingerprint verification for app access, along with an initial video selfie setup requirement. The multi-factor approach reflects a growing industry trend toward combining multiple biometric modalities for enhanced security.
“During COVID, we ended up with our card numbers stored in lots of different places, and that’s become a target for cybercriminals and organised crime. This has become a billion-dollar problem we have to fix,” said Richard Wormald, a Mastercard executive.
“Tokens are at the core of our strategy. We have the regulation. We have partnerships across the board, so that’s good. The wider use of tokens sets us up for exactly that, and we’ll be looking at other use cases and see what that can do for our company overall,” said Mastercard CEO Michael E. Miebach.
The initiative meets European regulatory requirements, including PSD2, and addresses the issue of abandoned checkouts caused by cumbersome manual entry processes. PSD2 compliance requirements have been a significant driver of biometric authentication adoption in the payment sector. Mastercard is working with regulatory bodies and industry partners to facilitate the implementation of these changes, building on its existing partnerships and technological infrastructure.
Sources: Mitrade, 7News, Global Banking and Finance
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