Credit card applications and purchases likely to be authenticated by selfies in the future

The announcement comes at a time when personal information on 145.5 million Americans was recently accessed or stolen from the credit bureau Equifax. If a person were to apply for a credit card application on their smartphone, the bank app could ask the applicant to take a selfie and then take a picture of a driver’s license or passport. Instead of a bank call center autodialing a customer when they have a concern about a transaction, this new technology could allow the customer to use Apple’s Touch ID or other fingerprint recognition technology, or take a selfie or record their voice, to verify they made the transaction. The announcement comes at a time when a huge amount of personal information on 145.5 million Americans was recently accessed or stolen from the credit bureau Equifax. While a birthdate, Social Security number or last name can be more easily stolen or mimicked as anyone who has been a victim of identity fraud will tell you it’s much harder to fraudulently mimic a person’s face, fingerprint or voice.