As shoppers look for more secure payment transactions and engaging in-store and online/mobile experiences, Mastercard is using augmented reality to deliver on that as well as enhance the overall retail experience.
Mastercard chose Money20/20 in Las Vegas this week to demonstrate how its Masterpass solution seamlessly enhances an AR-based retail shopping experience that uses iris authentication for a simpler, security-focused solution.
In Mastercard’s vision, shoppers can view digital representations of products before purchase, learn more about them and see additional options not available in the physical location along with access to instant recommendations.
To complete a purchase, users can pay using Masterpass and iris authentication, technology developed by Qualcomm, selecting a card from their Masterpass-enabled wallet and press the Masterpass button on the screen. Items can be taken home or shipped depending on availability.
“At Mastercard, we are seeing major shifts in how commerce is conducted, as people lead increasingly connected, digital lifestyles,” stated Sherri Haymond, EVP, Digital Partnerships, Mastercard.
“As the physical and digital worlds blend together, we are focused on developing solutions that provide merchants with the ability to accept payments across all technology platforms possible—in-store, in-app, online, and in AR and VR—to help drive how people will experience shopping and payments in the future.”
In Las Vegas, the partners also used the Saks Fifth Avenue brand, marks and likeness to showcase the physical retail environment.
Neeraj Bhatia, Director, Product Management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. said in the release, “Qualcomm Technologies’ iris authentication and extended reality technologies for Snapdragon 835 are designed to support a future generation of contextually aware commerce experiences using secure, augmented reality. We are delighted to work with Mastercard and Saks Fifth Avenue to showcase new AR experiences on ODG’s sleek smart glassed based on our Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform.”
The partners designed a Money20/20 experience to inspire brands and merchants to dream up new ways of enhancing the in-store shopping experience. Part of it is about drive sales by delivering additional content and information during shopping, leveraging:
- Masterpass, the digital payment service from Mastercard, and Identity Check Mobile, which enables users making purchases to authenticate with physical traits including fingerprint, facial and voice recognition software;
- ODG’s expertise to lead the development of the AR shopping experience, as well as its award-winning extra-wide-field-of-view R-9 smartglasses with enhanced iris tracking cameras; and
- Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform running the Snapdragon XR SDK and iris authentication technology with liveliness detection for a superior authentication experience.
Mastercard is betting on AR to “reshape the retail environment, making it more immersive and efficient.”
Ralph Osterhout, Founder and CEO at ODG said in the release, “This solution showcases the transformative nature of augmented reality in the retail space and highlights the power and performance of ODG smartglasses and the unparalleled potential for headworn AR to change the way we see and experience the world.”
Michael Miebach, Mastercard, Chief Product Officer explained the company’s ambitions for impacting “the lives of the underbanked and underserved.”
