Mastercard To Debut Payment Passkey Service In India

(RTTNews) - Payment technology najor Mastercard announced the worldwide launch of its new Payment Passkey Service in India as an alternate transaction authentication method for more secure and easier online shopping.

The company, during a keynote presentation at Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai, noted that the service will debut first in India as a pilot in partnership with select payments players, online merchants and banks.

Following the initial pilot program in India, the Mastercard Payment Passkey Service will be rolled out to more consumers and financial institutions around the world over the coming months.

In India, the company will partner with payment aggregators such as Juspay, Razorpay and PayU, online merchants such as bigbasket, as well as major banks including Axis Bank, to offer the service.

According to the firm, payment passkeys speed up transactions using biometrics, accelerating secure online checkout for millions of shoppers.

At present, one-time passwords or OTPs are commonly used for their ease of use, but are increasingly vulnerable to online scams such as phishing, SIM swapping and message interception. As reported by the Reserve Bank of India's Annual Report for 2023-2024, the incidence of fraud cases in India has surged by nearly 300 percent in the last two years.

The Mastercard Payment Passkey Service, built for online or remote tokenized transactions, replaces traditional passwords and OTPs, and makes transactions faster as well as more secure against fraud and scams. The company noted that payment passkeys use device-based biometric authentication methods such as fingerprints or facial scans to streamline online shopping.

Mastercard said it is bringing EMVCo, World Wide Web Consortium and the FIDO Alliance industry standards together to speed and secure the checkout experience.

Jorn Lambert, chief product officer at Mastercard, said, "By introducing the Mastercard Payment Passkey Service in India, we're advancing secure online checkout and our vision for a token economy. Through innovative technology that enhances security and convenience, we're creating a more transparent commerce ecosystem for all. As we continue to lead the way in digital payments, our commitment to achieving a tokenized future is stronger than ever."

Manas Mishra, PayU's chief product officer, added that the demand for advanced and secure payment solutions is greater than ever as the country's payment ecosystem matures.

According to Razorpay, integrating advanced technologies safeguard merchants and their customers and also streamline the payment process.