Today in Barcelona, Spain, Mobile ID World president Peter O’Neill got a first hand look at MasterCard’s biometrics powered multi-factor authentication solution Identity Check. Trialed last year, the technology was demoed at MWC and is on its way to market as a development kit.
Here’s visual tour of how Identity Check works, using selfies to authorize high value electronic payments via mobile device.
This is where it all took place:
And our guide to the world of Identity Check: Eugene Khvostov (pictured right)
Khvostov: So, what we’ve done here is created a way for consumers to verify transactions in a safe, simple and secure manner. What we’ve discovered is passwords are a pain– we’re asked to remember a lot of them, a lot of times we repeat them so they’re not always so secure, and we find that users just typically don’t like them. So, what if we could make it easier for a user to verify a transaction using something that they are: biometrics.
Khvostov: You’ve got two options here: fingerprint and face recognition. I’m going to show the face one…
Khvostov: What we’ve done here is– let’s say I’ve conducted a transaction online. I splurged and bought the TV I really wanted. It’s pretty expensive—$1200—the bank wants a little more information. They send me a push notification immediately that I can open up. I’m just going to pop open the app and it’s going to ask me to verify.
Khvostov: Now, it’s going to give me a bit more information—who the retailer is, what the amount was—but actually, with that one tap, I’ve already provided two factors of authentication.
-One: the device itself—it was sent to my device and I was able to locate it…
-Two: there’s a geotag that the user does have to give consent for…
Khvostov: When I tap to verify it’s going to ask me to take a selfie, and it’s going to ask me to blink…
Khvostov: …And I’m done.
Nice, simple secure. Fingerprint is kind of the same exact experience but instead of the picture it is a fingerprint verification notice, a function of the device right. You need to have the fingerprint sensor, but it’s the same basic concept.
Follow Us