{"id":1470915,"date":"2024-06-12T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-12T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1470915"},"modified":"2024-06-12T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T13:00:00","slug":"mastercard-launches-its-biometric-retail-payment-system-in-europe-using-poland-as-a-testing-ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/mastercard-launches-its-biometric-retail-payment-system-in-europe-using-poland-as-a-testing-ground\/1470915\/","title":{"rendered":"Mastercard Launches Its Biometric Retail Payment System In Europe, Using Poland As A Testing Ground"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mastercard Launches Its Biometric Retail Payment System In Europe, Using Poland As A Testing Ground<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Nick Corbishley via NakedCapitalism.com,<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBuy with your eyes, pay with your glance!\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

After running pilot tests in Brazil and parts of the Asia Pacific for roughly two years, Mastercard is finally rolling out its biometric retail payments system in Europe. The world\u2019s largest payment card company appears to be determined to wean consumers off not only cash, its eternal rival, but also credit and debit cards, its main line of business until now. To that end, it is piloting its Biometric Checkout Program in Poland in collaboration with local fintech company PayEye, which will be providing its iris and face biometric technology.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mastercard\u2019s global Biometric Checkout Program, represents a first-of-its-kind technology framework to help establish standards for new ways to pay, allowing cardholders to use a wide range of biometric payment authentication methods such as palm, face or iris scan. This simplifies the checkout process in store, as consumers no longer need to use a physical payment card, cash or a mobile device to pay for purchases. With Mastercard Biometric Checkout Program, secure and convenient experiences are possible simply by using your biometrics.<\/p>\n

\u201cMastercard is a pioneer of innovative payment methods and drive security, and standardization and Poland is an (sic) perfect place for such a groundbreaking pilot,\u201d said Marta \u017byci\u0144ska, general manager Poland, Mastercard.<\/p>\n

If you, like me, are wondering, \u201cWhy Poland?\u201d, the answer is simple: Poles are apparently more inclined to adopt\u00a0dystopian\u00a0disruptive new technologies \u2014 at least according to Mastercard.<\/strong> From the industry publication,\u00a0Biometrics Update<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The global payments giant says it chose Poland as its first European country to pilot the program because of its receptiveness to new technologies. According to their survey, four out of five Polish people say that they use or have used biometric technology while among the 18\u201325-year-olds category, almost all are familiar with using biometrics.<\/p>\n

\u201cPoland was one of the first countries where contactless payments with Mastercard cards were introduced and we know that Polish consumers are leaders in adopting innovative technologies,\u201d says Marta \u017byci\u0144ska,\u00a0Mastercard\u2019<\/a>s general manager for Poland.<\/p>\n

The pilots will be conducted in five stores in Warsaw, Wroc\u0142aw, Krak\u00f3w, Pozna\u0144 and Czelad\u017a. Empik has over 350 stores across Poland.<\/p>\n

This will be the first time Mastercard has piloted a Biometric Checkout Program in Europe. In May, 2022, the company unveiled to much fanfare plans to\u00a0launch<\/a>\u00a0a pilot \u201cbiometric checkout program\u201d in the UK, but that so far appears to have come to naught.<\/strong> Before testing the system on UK consumers, the company first trialled it in Brazil. It then expanded its pilot programs program to the Asia Pacific region and launched its second pilot in Latin America earlier this June.<\/p>\n

JP Morgan Chase Joins the Race<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Mastercard is not the only large financial institution testing out this still relatively nascent payment technology. The company\u2019s largest rival (after cash<\/a>, of course) and fellow duopolist, Visa, recently\u00a0showcased<\/a>\u00a0its pay-by-palm biometric payment technology at an event in Singapore. During the event, visitors were invited to try out the palm reader and link their signature to their payment card for a transaction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe future of biometric payments is promising and is set to revolutionise the retail experience,\u201d <\/strong><\/em>said Kunal Chatterjee, Head of Innovation at Visa Asia Pacific. But it may take time for the technology to reach critical mass. Various factors, he said, influence the level of acceptance of biometric payments, including regulation, technology and consumer priorities, which can vary from country to country.<\/p>\n

The largest bank in the US, JP Morgan Chase, is also\u00a0piloting<\/a>\u00a0both face and palm pay technologies, with a view to fully launching a biometric checkout service with its merchants early next year. Given JPM is the largest merchant acquirer in the US, processing around 37 billion transactions in 2022, the impact on the payments landscape in the US could be huge. According to Prashant Sharma, executive director of biometrics and identity solutions at JPMorgan, merchants are highly interested in tapping biometrics, \u201cbecause everybody wants to provide a streamlined, personalized experience to the consumer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biometrics have already seeped into many other aspects of everyday life, including travel and communication. <\/strong>Many national passports these days include biometric data. Hundreds of millions \u2014 perhaps even billions \u2014 of people\u00a0use<\/a>\u00a0a biometric authentication factor, such as a fingerprint or face scan, to unlock their smartphones and other digital devices. Soon, biometric identifiers may even be necessary\u00a0to log onto<\/a>\u00a0social media platforms.<\/p>\n

In other words, people are already giving away their most private data to work, communicate, cross borders, or get on planes. Will they do the same to speed up their shopping experience?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is far from clear. As we\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0last year, a push back against biometric surveillance and control systems has been gathering momentum on both sides of the north Atlantic, particularly the Western one. In the US, a small but growing handful of cities, including New York, have passed biometrics laws. Likewise, a growing number of states have followed Illinois\u2019 lead in passing laws that expressly govern the processing of biometric data. In Illinois alone, more than 1,000 class action lawsuits have been filed under the state\u2019s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).<\/p>\n

In the UK, meanwhile, the unmanned store experience offered by Amazon has been\u00a0such a flop<\/a>\u00a0that the company has had to begin opening stores with actual fresh-and-blood human beings serving customers. Across the English Channel, there have been murmurings of protests in Belgium, France and other countries. But despite this growing backlash, there is a sense of inevitability to all of this. These are, after all, technologies that stand to massively benefit both governments and corporations alike while stripping the public at large of even more power, autonomy and independence.<\/p>\n

More Convenience. But for Whom?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Mastercard\u2019s Biometric Checkout Program\u00a0claims<\/a>\u00a0to offer several benefits, including increased speed, convenience and better hygiene.\u00a0Consumers first have to enrol in the program, by using their phone to scan their face, before being able to take advantage of its supposed benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new technology ensures a fast and secure checkout experience, while also empowering consumers to choose how they want to pay\u2026\u00a0No more fumbling for your phone or hunting for your wallet when you have your hands full \u2013 the next generation of in-person payments will only need a quick smile or wave of your hand. The trusted technology that uses your face or fingerprint to unlock your phone can now be used to help consumers speed through the checkout. With Mastercard\u2019s new Biometric Checkout Programme, all you will need is yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, consumers will not have to use safer two-factor authentication \u2014 biometrics plus a PIN or password \u2014 if they don\u2019t want to. And they are essentially being encouraged by Mastercard not to.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the interview below, Ajay Bhalla, Mastercard\u2019s president of cyber and intelligence solutions described the company\u2019s biometric checkout program as a \u201ccool new technology\u201d that \u201callows consumers to pay with a smile on their face or just wave.\u201d That way, he said (emphasis my own), \u201cyou can forget the\u00a0clunkiness<\/em>\u00a0of taking your wallet out, your devices out, your card out.\u201d Just do your shopping, he said \u201cgo to the checkout and\u2026 pay with your face. It\u2019s as simple as that.\u201d<\/p>\n

How about no…
\nPay with a smile: Mastercard launches facial recognition biometrics
\nSource: South China Morning Post (YouTube) pic.twitter.com\/wYxx5HdnWE<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Camus (@newstart_2024) December 19, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n

Convenience, as always, is the watchword. But for whom?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is already well established that large retailers, banks and payment card companies much prefer people to use contactless payments as much as possible because: a) they are quicker to process, which means more sales per hour and more fees for the banks and card companies; and b) (this is the key part) people tend to spend their money in a more carefree or reckless fashion, which also means more sales for the retailers and more commissions and fees for the banks and card companies. As growing numbers of cash-strapped consumers grappling with high inflation have discovered (or rediscovered), cash tends to have the opposite effect.<\/p>\n

This was already known when contactless cards began making their appearance almost two decades ago, as a 2006\u00a0Financial Times<\/em>\u00a0article<\/a>\u00a0makes clear:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr Williams, [controller at The Bailey Co, parent company of Arby\u2019s, a fast food restaurant chain based in the US], has found that customers spend about 50 per cent more when they use a contactless card than when they pay for their food with cash: \u201cI think it is psychological: because customers are not pulling cash out of their wallet, they spend more.\u201d Arby\u2019s has also made productivity gains with less time being spent on counting money and taking it to the bank, Mr Williams says.<\/p>\n

Another benefit to retailers is that cards allow them to capture data about their customers from small transactions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf contactless cards offer merchants better information on their customers, that could prove to be valuable,\u201d says Mr Uzureau.<\/p>\n

Beware of Wandering Eyes<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Another potential problem with Mastercard\u2019s biometric checkout program is the apparent risk posed by customers\u2019 wandering eyes. As the company itself notes in its press release, using PayEye\u2019s eyePOS terminals \u201crequires precise calibration, such that there is no risk of accidentally looking at the terminal and paying\u201d for somebody else\u2019s purchases.<\/p>\n

Other major concerns include privacy and security (or lack thereof). More or less all large corporations have suffered at least one significant data breach in recent years, often through third-party service providers. They include, of course,\u00a0Mastercard<\/a>, Visa and\u00a0JP Morgan Chase<\/a>. In March this year, American Express (Amex), the US\u2019 third largest credit card company,\u00a0alerted<\/a>\u00a0its customers that their credit card details may have been compromised following a third-party data breach.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea of a data breach is not a question of if, it\u2019s a question of when,\u201d says Professor Sandra Wachter, a data ethics expert at the Oxford Internet Institute. \u201cWelcome to the Internet: everything is hackable.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In my 2022 book\u00a0Scanned<\/em>, I documented how authorities in India, the Philippines and South Korea had suffered extensive security and data breaches leading to the leaking of biometric ID information belonging to millions of people.<\/p>\n

Since then India\u2019s Aadhaar ID system has suffered its\u00a0biggest ever data leak<\/a>, the Inspector General (IG) of the US Department of Defense (DoD) has released a\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0revealing glaring gaps in security and management of biometric data within the DoD, and\u00a0an Australian firm called Outabox has suffered a breach of personal data linked to a facial recognition scheme that was implemented in bars and clubs across the country during the reopening of the economy. As WIRED magazine\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0in May this year, the Outabox incident vindicated the privacy experts who have\u00a0repeatedly warned<\/a>\u00a0about the creep of facial recognition systems in public spaces such as clubs and casinos:<\/p>\n

\u201cSadly, this is a horrible example of what can happen as a result of implementing privacy-invasive facial recognition systems,\u201d Samantha Floreani, head of policy for Australia-based privacy and security nonprofit Digital Rights Watch, tells WIRED. \u201cWhen privacy advocates warn of the risks associated with surveillance-based systems like this, data breaches are one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

This may not be news to regular readers but it bears repeating: biometric data is the most precious data of all. If it is hacked, leaked or compromised in some other way, the damage is often permanent. You cannot change or cancel your iris, fingerprint or DNA like you can change a password or cancel a credit card. As Illinois\u2019 BIPA law\u00a0notes<\/a>, once biometric identifiers are compromised, \u201cthe individual has no recourse, is at heightened risk for identity theft, and is likely to withdraw from biometric-facilitated transactions.\u201d This is what makes the relentless march toward a future of biometric-enabled surveillance and control so dangerous.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nWed, 06\/12\/2024 – 05:00<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/personal-finance\/mastercard-launches-its-biometric-retail-payment-system-europe-using-poland<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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