Practise your selfie pout - MasterCard launches photo ID for online shoppers

Store assistants have just perfected averting their eyes to customers’ PIN entries — now a new MasterCard innovation means they could have to keep a straight face as customers pull their best selfie pout at the check-out.

For now, though, the payments giant’s Identity Check Mobile — aka “selfie pay” — is limited to online shopping.

Microsoft is bringing the initiative to the UK and 11 other European countries after successful trials in the US, Canada and the Netherlands.

It means shoppers’ purchases on retailers’ sites or apps will be approved via a pop-up on their handset, which will demand customers hold up their phone and snap a selfie or perform a finger scan rather than enter a traditional online banking password.

MasterCard says the process will make it easier for customers than remembering passwords, and harder for fraudsters to crack.

Ajay Bhalla, president for enterprise risk and security at MasterCard, added: “This is a significant milestone in the evolution of payments. Shopping in person has been revolutionised thanks to advances like contactless cards, mobile payments and wearables, and now we are making Identity Check Mobile a reality.”