Selfies are all the rage these days. Using this popular technique of taking photos, Mastercard is trialing a new method of payment that may be helpful to people with disabilities. The company’s new mobile app, called “Identity Check Mobile” (and popularly known as Selfie Pay) allows shoppers to pay for their purchases online by taking a selfie.

This is how it works: The app, when first downloaded, takes a photo of the user, and stores a digitized photo of their face on Mastercard’s servers. When that user is shopping online on their computer, and is ready to pay, they get a notification on their phone to verify the purchase amount. Once they verify it (by simply tapping on the amount), the next screen asks them to take a selfie. The selfie is then matched with the digitized photo of that person’s face, and if there is a match, the purchase is approved. The app also asks the person to blink to ensure that a human is actually taking the selfie, and someone is not just holding a photo of the person in front of the phone camera.

This can be beneficial for people with not very good motor skills, amputees, people with vision impairment or anyone who would want to speed up the checkout process by not typing on the keyboard.

This app is already available in several countries in Europe, and Mastercard says it should be available across the globe starting sometime next year.

Source: Engadget