PURCHASE, N.Y.—Mastercard is rolling out a new program that will allow consumers to pay at the point of sale with a smile or wave of the hand.
While facial recognition technology has long raised eyebrows among civil rights groups, Mastercard said it was pushing ahead with a biometric checkout program it claimed would speed up payments, cut queues and provide more security than a standard credit or debit card, according to the Guardian.
“Once enrolled, there is no need to slow down the checkout queue searching through their pockets or bag,” Mastercard said in a statement quoted by the Guardian. “Consumers can simply check the bill and smile into a camera or wave their hand over a reader to pay.”
Mastercard also claimed the new payment system would be more hygienic, tapping into health concerns coming out of the pandemic, The Guardian reported.
Launch in Brazil
The first pilots will launch in Brazil at five St Marche supermarkets in São Paulo, with shoppers able to register for biometric payments in store or via an app with their local partner, Payface.
A spokesperson for Mastercard told The Guardian a U.K. rollout was part of its “near-term plan,” and that the company was having “encouraging conversations with potential partners.” Meanwhile, Mastercard said it will focus on launching the technology in markets including Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Has Everyone But You Heard the News?
Don’t forget to check your Spam/Junk email folder if you haven’t been receiving your free, popular and daily CUToday.info news headlines.
And if you haven’t yet signed up for the new email solution on which CUToday.info has partnered with ResponseGenius, you can do so here. Signing up requires less than one minute of your time.
CUToday.info has received very positive response from readers following the move to an improved provider of the daily headlines, but many also noted they did need to go to their Spam/Junk folder and mark it as safe.
The new email solution has not only improved every reader’s delivery experience, but it also features a fresh, new format that is easy to read, especially on mobile devices.
Please note and/or make your IT department or email administrator aware the emails will be coming from the domains CUTodayinfo.com and CUTodayinfoReply.com.