Say Cheese! MasterCard Testing 'Pay By Selfie' App Technology

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- There's Apple Pay, Google Wallet, Pay Pal, and now you can pay with a selfie.

As CBS2's Meg Baker reported, MasterCard is testing a new app technology that would one day allow shoppers to make a transaction with a selfie instead of their password.

"I think that it will probably work really well," said Trisha Cowan.

"I don't take selfies myself, so wouldn't really say that's what I would do," said Jimmy Wu.

Here's how the app prototype works: After you download MasterCard's Identity Check app, go shopping online. When it's time to check out, you tap and verify the amount, look at the camera like you're taking a selfie and blink -- you don't need to snap a photo. The transaction is then approved and you're done.

The blink prevents thieves from showing a picture of your face to the app, Baker reported. The app then uses facial recognition technology to compare the picture you just took to the one you created when you enrolled.

"Security and convenience are sort of at the opposite ends of each other," said facial recognition expert Gifford Hesketh.

Hesketh, with facial recognition technology company FaceFirst, said the technology isn't good for high security applications.

"It might look like me sometimes, it might not look like me sometimes," he said. "If I'm looking at the camera now, I can tilt my chin up or tilt my chin down and I look like two completely different people."

MasterCard said the selfie payment option appeals to millennials and cuts out the need to remember a password.

The app also allows you to choose your face or your fingerprint.

And if you think this is high-tech, MasterCard is also working with a Canadian firm to develop technology that will approve transactions by recognizing your unique heartbeat.