Secure mobile payment authorization

A method to authorize a mobile payment for a transaction, comprising:

• receiving, by a mobile device of a consumer, a facial image request from a point-of-sale (POS) device, wherein the facial image request is sent by the POS device in response to receiving a signal from the mobile device while initiating the transaction on behalf of the consumer;
• capturing, by the mobile device in response to receiving the facial image request, a facial image of the consumer using a camera of the mobile device;
• and
• sending account information of an account at a financial institution and the facial image to a verification server, wherein the account information is stored in the mobile device,
• wherein the facial image and the account information are first sent to the financial institution by the POS device,
• wherein the facial image and the account information are subsequently received by the verification server from the financial institution,
• wherein the verification server generates an authorization of the mobile payment based on the account information by:
• requesting, in response to receiving the account information and based on the account information, a verified facial image from the financial institution;
• receiving, based on the account information, the verified facial image of an account holder from a server of the financial institution;
• comparing the facial image of the consumer and the verified facial image of the account holder based on a pre-determined criterion to verify the consumer as the account holder;
• and
• sending the authorization to the POS device, and
• wherein the POS device completes the transaction based on the authorization.

A system to authorize a mobile payment for a transaction, comprising:

• a mobile device of a consumer requesting the mobile payment, the mobile device configured to:
• send a signal to a point-of-sale (POS) device indicating that the mobile device supports the mobile payment;
• capture, in response to receiving a facial image request from the POS device, a facial image of the consumer;
• and
• send the facial image and account information of an account at a financial institution to the POS device, wherein the account information is stored in the mobile device;
• a verification server configured to:
• receive, from the financial institution, the facial image and the account information linked with the facial image;
• request, in response to receiving the account information and based on the account information, a verified facial image from the financial institution;
• receive the verified facial image of an account holder of the account from a server of the financial institution;
• compare the facial image of the consumer and the verified facial image of the account holder based on a pre-determined criterion to verify the consumer as the account holder;
• generate, in response to verifying the consumer as the account holder, an authorization of the mobile payment based on the account information;
• and
• send the authorization to the POS device;
• and
• the POS device configured to:
• send the facial image and the account information to the financial institution;
• and
• complete the transaction based on the authorization.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions to authorize a mobile payment for a transaction, the instructions when executed by a computer comprising functionality to:

• receive, from a financial institution, a facial image of a consumer and account information of an account at the financial institution,
• wherein the facial image and the account information are first sent to the financial institution by a POS device while initiating the transaction on behalf of the consumer, and
• wherein the consumer requests, via the POS device, the mobile payment for the transaction using the account information stored in a mobile device of the consumer;
• request, in response to receiving the account information and based on the account information, a verified facial image from the financial institution;
• receive the verified facial image of an account holder of the account from the financial institution, wherein the account is identified at the financial institution based on the account information;
• compare the facial image of the consumer and the verified facial image of the account holder based on a pre-determined criterion to verify the consumer as the account holder;
• generate, in response to verifying the consumer as the account holder, an authorization of the mobile payment based on the account information;
• and
• send the authorization to the POS device, wherein the POS device completes the transaction based on the authorization.