MIAMI -  Mastercard has partnered with Sympla, the leading events platform in Brazil, and Yuno, a global payments orchestrator based in Latin America, to bring its Payment Passkey Service to the region and accelerate secure online checkout for shoppers. Beginning in January, Sympla and Yuno will be the first partners in the region to offer this innovative solution to their customers, followed by a wider roll out.

The Mastercard Payment Passkey Service streamlines e-commerce and revolutionizes the consumer journey. Using device-based biometrics, such as fingerprints or facial scans, payment passkeys replace other authentication methods like one-time passwords (OTPs) to make online transactions not only faster and more convenient, but also more secure against fraud and scams.

Mastercard’s research shows that 90% of consumers worldwide believe biometrics are more secure and convenient than passwords. In Latin America specifically, a survey conducted from 2023 revealed that 85% of respondents prefer using biometric authentication over traditional passwords for online transactions. Compared to OTPs, which are increasingly vulnerable to online scams such as phishing, SIM swapping, and message interception, payment passkeys make transactions not only faster, but also more secure against fraud and scams.

The Mastercard Payment Passkey Service leverages Mastercard’s tokenization technology, which replaces the primacy account number (PAN) with a token, to ensure that no card data is shared with third parties and is useless to fraudsters and scammers in the case of a data breach.

With payment passkeys, shoppers can choose their Mastercard card when checking out with Click to Pay, or select a card already stored securely on file with a merchant. To confirm the payment, they can use biometric authentication like fingerprint or facial scan features already available on their devices. Upon successful authentication, the transaction is completed.

For e-commerce players, this means fewer abandoned carts and a lower risk of fraud, while consumers can benefit from faster checkouts and peace of mind. For issuers, this is an alternative to have their cardholders authenticated, reducing fraud risk. According to a recent report, retail ecommerce sales in Latin America are on track to reach nearly $180 billion this year [1]

“Mastercard is committed to building a payment experience where convenience and security coexist and partnering with Sympla and Yuno marks a significant step towards advancing payment authentication in the region”, said Silvana Hernandez, executive vice president, Core Products, Mastercard Latin America and the Caribbean.

“Sympla’s mission is to make our customers’ journey on our platform simpler, faster, and safer. The Mastercard Payment Passkey Service strengthens our commitment to security, reinforcing Sympla's position as the most trusted and innovative platform in the Brazilian market”, said Marina Teixeira, Group Product Manager.

“Passkeys align perfectly with Yuno’s strategy of adopting and scaling innovations quickly, and being the first orchestrator to implement them with Mastercard demonstrates our commitment to leading the market. By making authentication easier and reducing friction at checkout, Passkeys drive higher conversion rates, happier customers, and a better payment experience for everyone”, added Juan Pablo Ortega, Co-founder and CEO at Yuno.

[1] Latin America Ecommerce Forecast 2024