Items tagged with (NYSE:MA)
Mastercard is unabashedly planing to embrace cryptocurrency payments, a decision it made after observing people using cards to purchase crypto assets with increased frequency, especially on the heels of Bitcoin's recent surge in value, the company said. It is preparing for a future in which cryptocurrency transactions could become the norm, not the exception. In a blog post on the subject, Mastercard acknowledged this is a "big change that will require a lot of work." Part of that entails figuring out which specific cryptocurrencies to support. Bitcoin is a given, even though Mastercard did not confirm it would be one the currencies supported. But there will be others as well, such as perhaps...
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The next time you see someone taking a selfie, it may not be because they're getting ready to post their mug on Facebook or Instagram; they might be authorizing an online transaction. Say what now? Believe it or not, MasterCard is going to pilot a new program that will seek approval for online purchases by scanning images of a user's face.Once you've filled your virtual cart with whatever items you're buying and get to checkout, MasterCard will require you to hold your phone up and snap a photo of your face. MasterCard's thought process is that taking a selfie is easier than remembering a secure password. It also doesn't hurt that this generation is into taking selfies whenever possible, hence...
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In an effort to make online shopping and authentication more secure and less reliant on passwords, an increasing number of companies are joining the FIDO Alliance, which among other things is pushing for the use of fingerprint scanning. MasterCard is the latest to join the FIDO Alliance, and perhaps one of the most important at this early stage, as it's the first major payment network to hop on board. FIDO is currently at work developing technical specifications for an open standard that includes biometric data such as fingerprint scanning, which would be used to replace passwords when shopping online or logging into a website. This kind of technology obviously requires a physical scanner. Apple's...
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