MasterCard planning to roll out ‘selfie pay’ in Canada this summer

(Photo from Ryan Hyde/Flickr)

AMSTERDAM – Starting this summer, Canadian MasterCard holders will be able to pay for their online purchases using a selfie or a fingerprint instead of a password.

After a pilot project in the Netherlands, the payment card company says it plans to roll out the technology in Canada, the U.S. and parts of Europe.

MasterCard says biometric payments – which use characteristics such as their fingerprints, voice or facial features to identify users – are more convenient and secure than passwords.

During the pilot project, participants in the Netherlands were required to download an app in order to use the technology.

MasterCard Netherlands says it’s now looking at ways of integrating the technology into the apps of banking and tech giants to make the process even simpler for consumers.

Details surrounding the Canadian iteration of the service are not yet available.