You would be hard pressed to find an innovation as ingenious as Mastercard’s latest tech development.

By combining two of many modern day consumers’ favourite things – taking selfies and purchasing products – the company is pioneering a new payment system that is sure to make waves.

Currently in the trial phase, Mastercard’s new smartphone app explores the possibility of using facial recognition as an alternative to SecureCode – an additional level of security for online shopping which requires shoppers to enter a password before they are able to make a purchase.

The app is the latest in a series of technological advances that endeavour to make online – especially mobile – purchases less cumbersome, whilst maintaining a high level of security. The popularity of such tech is largely due to the fact that, whilst the internet has made shopping easier than ever, it has also contributed to increasing levels of fraud.

All companies want people to be able to make purchases from them as quickly and easily as possible. So, if Mastercard can create a way to speed up transactions and keep customers’ finances safe, that may be enough to get them ahead of the competition.

Intuitively, facial recognition seems like a great way of speeding up transaction times securely. Your face is unique, and the time it takes for even the less tech-savvy of us to take a selfie is pretty short.

But selfie payments do face some problems. For instance, will holding up a photograph of the person who owns the phone used in the transaction to be enough to authorise a payment? Moreover, Google recently admitted that its own facial recognition technology is not as secure as a pattern, pin, or password. Not a particularly encouraging sign!

So, perhaps it is not likely that we will be able to pay by snapping our faces alone at any point in the near future. But the combination of a pin and facial recognition could work fantastically – taking a selfie is easier, quicker, and more fun than entering a password; and retaining the need to enter a pin should keep consumers’ money safe.

What do you think about Mastercard’s selfie payment system plans? A stroke of genius? Or a passing (possibly dangerous) fad?

Email us your thoughts.