Mastercard catches the 'selfie' bug

Mastercard launched its 'virtual wallet' which allowed customers to keep their personal payment details on their phone and scan bar codes to avoid checkouts.

MasterPass allowed the customers to pay without reaching the cashier.

It worked by releasing digital receipts on their cell phones when they scanned the bar codes, which can be shown when they exit the stores.

MasterCard partnered with Zwipe to build the world's first credit card that is a combination of contactless payment technology and biometric authentication.

This technology aimed to replace PIN entry, which entailed that cardholders will be able to make payments of any amount instead of a prepaid amount.

The cardholder's fingerprint would be used to verify each transaction at the payment terminal.

MasterCard, the global payments giant announced its plans to launch a biometric pilot program with Federal Credit Union using a $20 million investment to enhance cybersecurity.

The company is starting the "Safety Net" to reduce the risk of frauds and cyber attacks.

Under this, they will provide an extra layer of security by monitoring and blocking specific transactions based on certain selected criteria.

MasterCard Incorporated will increase the ease of payment services by giving tokenization to merchants, allowing banks that issue the card to reinstate MasterCard debit, credit and prepaid card account numbers with a token.

This token will be a new 16-digit number and not an actual account number; hence it has no information which may lead to frauds and cyber thefts.

As an alternative to SecureCode, Mastercard is looking to introduce facial recognition as its security software which will ask the online shoppers for a selfie while making purchases.

This plan is in the trial mode and is being tested on 500 US customers.

Mastercard, through this pilot program aims to improve the security of the transactions, while making it fun.