MasterCard has outlined its vision for online payments beyond passwords that would benefit merchants and consumers alike. This new authentication standard, when adopted, will be the largest wholesale upgrade to online payment security.
The company has been leading the co-creation of a new authentication standard and its approach is to utilize richer cardholder data, which will result in far fewer password interruptions at the point of sale.
“All of us want a payment experience that is safe as well as simple, not one or the other. We want to identify people for who they are, not what they remember. We have too many passwords to remember and this creates extra problems for consumers and businesses,” Ajay Bhalla, President of Enterprise Security Solutions, MasterCard said. "The new protocol, being co-created with Visa, could be adopted in 2015 and will gradually replace the current 3D Secure protocol."
Other steps MasterCard is taking toward a password-free environment include: evolving its SecureCode program to support the new standard, resulting in a smoother, simpler and safer experience for cardholders; piloting commercial tests for facial and voice recognition apps to authenticate cardholders; conducting trials of a wristband which authenticates a cardholder through their unique cardiac rhythm.