Google Chrome is looking to make it easier for users to autofill their payment details using the ‘screen lock’ across platforms. We’ve already seen how you will soon be able to use Windows Hello to autofill and authenticate payments on the desktop. Now, the latest report suggests that the said authentication feature is in the works for Chrome for Android as well.
If you have ever saved your credit card credentials and completed payments on your Android phone, you would know that Google needs you to enter the CVV/ CVC code before the payment goes through. This helps protects your credentials but could be a hassle. The company intends to eliminate this step by allowing users to authenticate the same with their screen lock – be it your fingerprint or face unlock.
This feature can be enabled using a Chrome flag but it’s not working just yet. You will need to navigate to chrome://flags on your phone and enable the “#enable-autofill-credit-card-authentication” flag. Now, if you try to make a payment via the browser, you will see a new ‘Use screen lock to confirm cards from now on’ checkbox under the CVC section. You can check out other interesting Chrome flags right here.
Only select users appear to be seeing the said option right now. I tested the payment autofill authentication feature in Chrome Canary (build #86.0.4193.0) on my Nokia 7 Plus running Android 10. But, as you can see in the screenshot above, I didn’t see the aforementioned checkbox in the payments autofill pop-up screen.
When Google Chrome rolls out this feature to all users, it would make it super easy to move past the process of inputting your credit card details. The autofill will be done with just a scan of your fingerprint. It’s currently unclear whether Chrome will allow entry-level smartphone users with no fingerprint scanner to employ their screen lock PIN or pattern for authentication. The ‘screen lock’ keyword makes it sound like it would.
The said feature should find its way to Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android over the coming months. We will keep you updated on when you no longer require to memorize or keep your credit card handy for completing payments.
