- Mastercard Inc MA launched a controversial biometric payments program in stores to keep pace with bigger competitors like Amazon.com Inc AMZN, the Financial Times reports.
- Facial recognition technology faced flak from civil rights groups about data storage and data sharing.
- Mastercard will launch the first pilots this week at five supermarkets run by the St Marche chain in Brazil.
- The facial recognition software will come from companies including Japan's NEC, Brazil's Payface, and California-based PopID.
- Retailers that sign up for its pilot scheme can allow customers to pay in-store with a smile or a wave.
- The system, which mandates customers to enroll, could translate into loyalty programs and purchase history.
- Mastercard looks to allow consumers to use a single enrolment to pay across different stores, with further pilots planned across regions including Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
- Mastercard could act as the "enabler of the ecosystem," setting unified privacy and security standards for a technology that has raised the hackles of privacy and data protection campaigners, Mastercard's cyber and intelligence President said.
- Mastercard analyzed using augmented reality headsets for purchases.
- Mastercard also aimed to create identities in the "metaverse" using blockchain technologies.
- Price Action: MA shares traded higher by 1.77% at $335.57 on the last check Tuesday.
- Photo via Wikimedia Commons
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