American Express (NYSE:AXP) (Amex) has taken a significant step towards enhancing online transaction security by integrating facial and fingerprint recognition into its fraud prevention tool, SafeKey. This move was announced on Thursday by John J. Kieley of American Express, making Amex the first card issuer to employ such biometric measures.
The integration is part of a pilot program currently being tested with a select group of U.S. consumer cardholders. The company plans to roll out these features to all U.S. consumer card members in the upcoming year. The biometric features will be introduced during the SafeKey checkout process, aiming to optimize checkout and prevent fraud.
This initiative is in collaboration with the Fast IDentity Online (FIDO) Alliance and the World Wide Web Consortium, two entities committed to enhancing online security. The integration aligns with findings from a study by PYMNTS and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Web Services (AWS), which highlighted a rising trend in the use of biometric payments.
Greg Esser from Entersekt further underscored the need for such measures, pointing out vulnerabilities in One-Time Password (OTP) systems. These systems are susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks where fraudsters trick users into visiting fraudulent sites to gain unauthorized access.
This move by American Express comes amidst an anticipated surge in real-time payment volume by 32.6% by 2027, as per an ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) report. The report also predicts an increase in financial crimes, highlighting the importance of bolstering security measures.
The integration of biometric capabilities also follows remarks made by CEO Steve Squeri on the issue of elderly consumers being targeted via gift card scams. This development further underscores Amex's commitment to combat fraud and enhance security for its cardholders.
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