Amazon files patent to allow customers to confirm payment with selfies

E-commerce company Amazon has filed a patent application for a process that would allow users to make payment for a purchase by taking a selfie or video of themselves, instead of using account password. For making the payment, customers are required to send two photos, one selfie, and the other in which they blink or smile to confirm that they are real and not a picture.

Amazon already has a patent for technology to authenticate a person's identity using their photo and video, but not necessarily to complete a transaction. But, the current application goes a step forward and extends authentication so that the user could complete the purchase. The aim here is to make shopping safer for customers by using the image instead of relying on password that can be easily stolen.

Amazon says that the selfies are safer than facial recognition software, which "can often be spoofed by holding a picture of the user in front of the camera, as the resulting two-dimensional image can look substantially the same whether taken of the user or a picture of the user".

Amazon also said selfie recognition would be more user-friendly than entering a password on a small touchscreen, as the present system "requires the user to turn away from friends or co-workers when entering a password, which can be awkward or embarrassing in many situations." 

China's Internet giant Alibaba and payment firm Mastercard are reportedly working on a new payment method that considers facial recognition as authentication in confirming transactions. Earlier this month, Google started testing Hands Free mobile payment service, that lets users to pay for items by simply telling the cashier "Paying with Google".

Via