Computop Provides Strong Biometric Authentication for Online Retailers

Computop has released a new biometric authentication platform that will allow online retailers to provide two-factor authentication and streamline the payments process on mobile devices. Computop is a payment processing company, while the Biometrics by Computop platform is compliant with the latest PSD2 standards.

According to Computop, the new platform will allow online retailers to introduce secure two-factor authentication at an earlier stage of the shopping journey, either when customers first log into the online storefront or when they go to checkout. Doing so will generate a digital signature – as well as other 3D Secure 2.0 data – that will be sent to a card issuer like Visa or Mastercard to assure them that strong customer authentication has already been applied and that it is therefore safe to process the payment without any further verification.

The goal is to remove any friction at the point of sale, and increase the customer conversion rate for online retailers. Biometrics by Computop is compatible with the face, voice, and fingerprint recognition features commonly found on modern smartphones, and is currently available for iOS and Android devices.

“If [merchants] are able to process strong consumer authentication themselves, the customer journey will be standardised and easier to support,” said Computop CEO Ralf Gladis.  “The whole process is GDPR compliant, and consumers can be confident in knowing that biometric data will never leave their own device.”

The Computop announcement lends credence to a previous report from Mastercard, which predicted that PSD2 would lead to the widespread adoption of biometric payment technology. It also suggests that the company is ahead of the curve, with a separate report from Aite Group and iovation finding that most payment services providers are not yet prepared for the incoming legislation.

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August 2, 2019 – by Eric Weiss