Mastercard Eliminates OTPs for Faster, Safer Online Payments in APAC

Mastercard launches its Mastercard Payment Passkey Service across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. This innovative service removes the need for traditional one-time passwords (OTPs), replacing them with secure biometric authentication, such as facial scans or fingerprints—just like unlocking your phone every day. The result? A faster, more secure online checkout experience for consumers and merchants alike.

A Seamless and Secure Checkout Experience

Mastercard’s new service leverages the power of tokenization, payment passkeys, and biometric authentication to streamline the online shopping experience. By using Mastercard’s Click to Pay feature, consumers can now enjoy a seamless, one-click checkout across devices, browsers, and operating systems. This advancement makes it easier than ever for shoppers to complete purchases without the hassle of remembering passwords or waiting for OTPs.

What’s more, Mastercard’s payment passkeys allow users to authenticate payments through biometric verification without needing to have an account or saved card details with the merchant. This capability makes guest checkouts faster, easier, and more secure than ever before—perfect for consumers who want quick, seamless transactions.

Benefits for Merchants, Issuers, and Consumers

For merchants, the benefits are clear: by reducing friction in the checkout process, they can minimize cart abandonment and boost sales. This also translates to fewer fraud risks, as the biometric authentication process is far more secure than traditional passwords or OTPs. For issuers, Mastercard’s Payment Passkey Service offers the added advantage of enhancing customer security and driving “top-of-wallet” status among consumers.

This launch follows the global rollout of biometric authentication through the Mastercard Payment Passkey Service in India earlier this year and subsequent extensions to other key markets.

Faster, More Secure Transactions

The Mastercard Payment Passkey Service addresses the increasing vulnerability of traditional password and OTP systems, which are often targeted by fraudsters through phishing or interception. With 80% of data breaches worldwide linked to weak or stolen passwords, it’s no surprise that 91% of consumers in the Asia Pacific region worry about online security. Mastercard’s biometric authentication replaces these outdated methods with a secure, fraud-proof alternative.

By tokenizing both payment credentials and biometric data, the service ensures that sensitive information is never shared with third parties, rendering it useless to hackers and fraudsters. This provides consumers with peace of mind and enables merchants to focus on building trust through better customer care and product development.

How It Works

Using the Mastercard Payment Passkey Service is simple:

1. Shoppers select their Mastercard card at checkout, either as a guest or from their securely stored card details.
2. They authenticate the transaction with biometric verification—either a fingerprint or facial scan.
3. The payment is completed instantly, securely, and without the need for any passwords or OTPs.

In Singapore, eyewear retailer Lenskart is already using Mastercard’s biometric payments, backed by major banks like DBS and UOB, making purchases as easy as a quick scan. This is just one example of how Mastercard’s Payment Passkey Service is transforming online shopping.

A New Era in Online Payments

By integrating industry standards from EMVCo, the World Wide Web Consortium, and the FIDO Alliance, Mastercard is setting a new standard for online security and checkout speed. As more merchants, banks, and payment aggregators adopt this service, consumers across APAC can look forward to safer, faster, and more convenient shopping experiences, all while protecting their personal data from fraud.