Canadian banks, carriers and government back blockchain-based digital IDs

Forget iris scans, Canadians to use blockchain for digital IDs — Bloomberg — “Soon Canadians will be able to verify personal information for everything from driver’s licenses to banking using mobile phones and blockchain… Canada’s six largest lenders, including Toronto-Dominion Bank and Royal Bank of Canada invested C$30m (US$24m) in the project. The country’s three main wireless carriers — owned by Rogers Communications Inc, Telus Corp and BCE Inc — are also involved through their EnStream venture, along with a number of provincial governments.”


What's New in Payments

Mastercard demos payments in augmented reality

Mastercard eyes the future of retail with Augmented Reality shopping experience — Mastercard — “This new AR experience from Mastercard will not only let shoppers view digital representations of products before they commit to a purchase, but also learn more about what they are buying, see additional options not available in the physical location and get instant recommendations or other information relevant to their unique experience. When done shopping, users can pay for items using Masterpass, which will first authenticate the user’s iris.”


What's New in Payments

UK consumers warm to face verification at the point of sale

Shoppers give thumbs up to in-store biometrics — Worldpay — “Just under two thirds (63%) of consumers want to be able to use a biometric scan to authorise payments in-store. When it comes to using our body parts to pay, 69% of consumers say they’d be open to using a finger. But respondents are also beginning to come around to the idea of using their face (24%), iris (33%), and voice (18%) to identify themselves at the point of sale.”



TSB to roll out iris scanning tech

TSB to roll out iris scanning tech — BBC News — “Imagine logging onto your bank account just by glancing at your phone. That’s what some TSB customers will be able to do from September when the bank introduces iris recognition to its mobile banking app… Customers will need the latest Samsung Galaxy S8 to use the new way of accessing their TSB accounts.”


Dubai to pilot biometric border system based on digital passports

DSG

Passengers travelling to Dubai will soon begin piloting a biometric border system that makes use of blockchain technology and lets them walk straight to baggage reclaim through a short tunnel which conducts a three dimensional scan of their face and instantly checks them into the country using an entirely digital version of their passport... More




UAE biometric database will allow residents not to carry ID

UAE biometric database will allow residents not to carry ID — Gulf Business — “The UAE plans to utilise third generation biometric data with the goal of allowing residents not to carry their ID card within the next five years… By 2018, the authority is also aiming to allow 80% people to use government services via their mobile by operating the device’s Near Field Communication chip to read their Emirates ID.”



NEC earbuds showcase hands-free biometric verification

NEC earbuds showcase hands-free biometric verification — New Atlas — “The new prototype earbuds are an application of NEC’s “hearable device user authentication technology”… NEC says the technology can identify the user within one second and with “greater than 99% accuracy”. Unlike biometrics based on the iris recognition or fingerprints, you don’t need to hold or look at your phone to use it.”


Hackers defeat Samsung Galaxy S8 iris scanner

Hackers defeat Samsung Galaxy S8 iris scanner — Security Week — “Hackers of the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) in Germany have managed to defeat the iris recognition system on Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S8 smartphones… While an individual’s iris is unique, researchers from CCC showed that Samsung’s iris scanner can be defeated by showing it a picture of the victim’s eye.”


What's New in Payments

Samsung Pay goes live in Taiwan with seven banks

Samsung Pay has been launched across Taiwan with support from Visa and Mastercard along with seven major banks including Citibank, Cathay United Bank, E.Sun Commercial Bank, Taishin International Bank, Fubon Bank, Union Bank of Taiwan and Standard Chartered. The service supports iris scan authentication for those with Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ devices. More


What's New in Payments

Samsung Pay goes live in the UK with iris scan authentication and faster transit payments

Samsung Pay in the UK

Samsung Pay is now available in the UK for customers of three financial institutions — MBNA, Nationwide and Santander — with “more on the way”. The service supports iris scan authentication as well as PIN and fingerprint authentication for Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ owners and offers a ‘transport card’ option designed to speed up transactions on busy Transport for London (TfL) services. More


What's New in Payments

Samsung Pay launches in Sweden and the UAE, enters early access in Hong Kong and Switzerland

Samsung Pay has expanded to four additional markets with official launches in Sweden and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and early access launches in Hong Kong and Switzerland. The service has also been made available on Samsung’s Gear S3 smartwatch in Russia, Sweden and the UAE in addition to its availability on the Gear S3 in the US, Singapore and Australia. More


What's New in Payments

Samsung reveals S8 with multi-biometrics, Samsung Pay reaches quarter of a billion transactions and adds online payments

Samsung Galaxy S8

Samsung has unveiled its latest Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus flagship devices, with support for iris and facial recognition technology and a fingerprint sensor which is now located on the back of the phone. Samsung Pass deals with major banks, an expansion of Samsung Pay to include online payments and details of its Bixby virtual assistant have also been announced. More


UK consumers want more biometric security options for online banking

Equifax research

More than half of UK consumers (56%) would prefer to use a biometric security method over traditional options like passwords to log into their financial accounts online, research released by Equifax reveals. 33% would prefer to use fingerprint recognition, 31% would like to use iris scanners, 7% facial recognition and 3% voice recognition. More