Mastercard taps Japan’s NEC to roll out biometric checkouts across APAC
Japanese technology company NEC Corporation is spearheading the expansion of the Mastercard Biometric Checkout Programme in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.
Mastercard taps NEC for biometrics launch in APAC
The two companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to incorporate NEC’s face recognition and liveness verification technology into the programme, in an effort to encourage adoption among regional merchants.
Launched in May last year with Brazil’s Payface and St Marche as early adopters, the programme offers a technology framework that authenticates in-store transactions with the payer’s smile or hand, while addressing security, biometric performance, data protection and privacy requirements.
The pair are showcasing the payment experience at this week’s Singapore Fintech Festival, with research conducted by Mastercard last year suggesting that 82% of consumers in APAC already engage with at least one form of biometrics.
NEC, which claims to have started its research into the use of biometric technology as far back as 1971, has been working with Mastercard as a programme partner since its launch.
Its biometric authentication suite, which operates under the Bio-IDiom brand, currently extends to face, iris, palmprint, finger vein, voice and ear acoustic recognition.
Mastercard says that adopters of the NEC-enabled programme will benefit from “shorter lines, increased security and more hygienic conditions”, while it also supports the integration of loyalty programmes to deliver “faster more tailored offers at purchase”.
