85% of consumers in Latin America have a preference for biometric authentication instead of traditional passwords for online transactionsaccording to research by Mastercard, a company that will introduce Payment Passkey in the region, a service that will accelerate secure online payments for buyers.
This method “will use device-based biometrics, such as fingerprints or facial scans to replace other methods such as one-time passwords (OTP)”, and will be available starting in January due to the partnership between Mastercard with the Brazilian platform Sympla and Yuno, a payment orchestrator founded by Colombians Juan Pablo Ortega and Julián Núñez.
“Payment keys align perfectly with Yuno’s strategy of rapidly adopting and implementing innovations, and being the first orchestrator to implement them with Mastercard demonstrates our commitment to leading the market. By making authentication easier and reducing friction in the checkout process, payment keys drive higher conversion rates, happier customers and a better checkout experience for everyone,” said Yuno CEO Juan Pablo Ortega.
For Mastercard, the adoption of the Payment Passkey has the objective of simplifying electronic commerce and revolutionizing the consumer experience, and above all making users less and less vulnerable to online scams such as ‘phishing’, SIM swapping and message interception, which are increasingly common with OTPs.
It is also essential for the US financial company when considering the high demand for electronic commerce and the large amount of retail sales in the Latin American region, which are on track to reach $180 billion in 2024, a panorama that is forecast favorable in the medium and long term, according to the ‘Latin America Ecommerce Forecast’.
“Mastercard is committed to building a payment experience where convenience and security coexist, and partnering with Sympla and Yuno marks a significant step towards advancing payment authentication in the region,” said Executive Vice President of Core Products, Mastercard Latin America and the Caribbean, Silvana Hernández.
Tokenization technology
Likewise, according to the company, the Payment Passkey service uses “tokenization” technology to replace the primary account number (PAN) with a token, ensuring that “card information is not shared with third parties and is useless.” for fraudsters in the event of a data breach.”
Other benefits that these technological innovations provide to corporations and e-commerce businesses are the reduction of abandoned shopping carts due to consumer complications when making a payment and for issuers, such as banks, a new alternative to authenticate cardholders and thus reduce the risk of fraud.
Biometric technology is a growing trend in the region and in the world, since 90% of consumers consider this method to be the most secure, which is why the Product Manager of the Sympla Group, Marina Teixeira, highlighted the Mastercard Payment Passkey service and reinforced its “commitment to security, consolidating Sympla as the most reliable and innovative platform in the Brazilian market.”