Mastercard Selects Brazil’s Payface for Next Start Path Accelerator

A Brazilian naked payments start-up is entering Mastercard’s Start Path accelerator. Payface was founded in Santa Catarina, and is the developer of a face-based payment application that has already been deployed in six Brazilian states.

The company is hoping that its participation in the next Start Path cohort will open up more development and marketing opportunities internationally. The Payface system relies on facial recognition, and functions much like other naked payments systems. Users are asked to register their biometrics and their payment information through the Payface application. They can then submit to a facial recognition scan to complete a transaction at the point of sale. In doing so, Payface negates the need for a physical card or a cellphone during in-person payments.

Start Path, meanwhile, is essentially a six-month mentorship program that provides tech start-ups with the resources and expertise they need to take their businesses to the next level. Payface is the only Latin American company in its cohort of nine, and believes that its selection attests to the strength of its business and its payment platform.

“We have partnered with fintech companies from the start and evolved the Mastercard Developers portfolio with programs like Start Path to support companies like Payface on their journey to grow and scale,” said Mastercard Fintech and Enablers SVP Amy Neale.

“We want to leverage Mastercard’s global network to directly engage with consumers, gather feedback on geographic expansion and relevant market dynamics, and receive guidance on product viability,” added Payface Co-founder and CEO Eládio Isoppo.

HYPR, Viridium, and Trust Stamp are some of the more high-profile alums of the Start Path program. Facial recognition has previously been used to facilitate payments at KFC stores in China, while PopID has brought similar technology to a network of restaurants and retail outlets in the United States.

Sources: exame, Then24

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January 19, 2022 – by Eric Weiss