In just a few months, you'll be able to take a selfie in order to buy products on your phone.
Yes, seriously.
MasterCard has announced its plan to debut facial recognition and fingerprint technology that would permit customers to take selfies in order to authenticate their identities when shopping on mobile.
The payments company plans to roll out this technology in the U.S., Canada, and a portion of Europe starting in the summer.
MasterCard and International Card Services recently ran a six-month test with 750 Dutch participants using biometrics. Each member of the test could make a purchase without using a PIN code, password, or confirmation code.
Approximately 90% of the participants said they preferred biometrics over passwords, and 75% said they thought biometrics reduced fraud, according to MasterCard.
The company is also researching the integration of this technology into apps for banking and tech companies in order to make it easier to use a selfie or fingerprint for identity verification.
MasterCard's rollout is yet another example of the way mobile payments are rapidly changing. As Apple, Samsung, Google, PayPal and others increase their focus on mobile wallet products, paying with phones in stores is going to become commonplace.
John Heggestuen, a managing research analyst on the BI Intelligence research team, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on mobile payments that analyzes how this landscape will transform in the next few years.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:
- In our latest US in-store mobile payments forecast, we find that mobile payment volume will reach $37 billion this year. This is about half our previous estimate for 2015. The downward revision is primarily the result of later-than-expected launches of major mobile wallets from big tech players.
- But by the end of the forecast period in 2019, we expect volume to reach $808 billion, or about 99% of the old estimate. Our forecast is still one of the largest in the industry, and we think mobile payments will catch on faster than other research firms suggest: Mobile payment capability is either already offered or about to be implemented at merchants accounting for a huge chunk of US payment volume.
- The number of people who make a mobile payment at least once a year will grow from nearly 8% of the US consumer population in 2014 to 65% by 2019. The growth in mobile payment users will largely be driven by mobile wallet initiatives from Apple, Samsung, and Google. When these are in place, 90% of the forthcoming smartphones in the US will come with mobile wallets preinstalled.
- Samsung Pay will be a huge driver of mobile payment volume. Unlike Apple Pay, when Samsung Pay launches it will be compatible at virtually every payment terminal in the US, thanks to the company's acquisition of LoopPay. This will make it easier for early adopters to make a habit of paying with their phone.
- The sheer number of mobile wallets available or in the works from Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, CurrentC, Google Wallet, and others will drive mobile payment adoption as well. This will largely be the result of competitive pressure building between the companies and the bandwagon effect. Adoption will be self-reinforcing — the more consumers and retailers that use or offer mobile in-store payments, the more the behavior will catch on among others.
In full, the report:
- Forecasts US mobile payment volume and user base from 2014-2019.
- Provides an in-depth explanation of the assumptions and data behind the forecast.
- Analyses the asymmetric objectives of the key players in the mobile wallet space.
- Provides an update on the mobile payments industry including analysis of Samsung Pay, Google Wallet, and PayPal.
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