Ant Financial Services, Alibaba’s operator of Alipay has bought EyeVerify which is the creator of the Eyeprint ID mobile eye verification technology.

Ant Financial and EyeVerify entered into a licensing agreement earlier this year. Under the terms of the license Eyeprint ID was integrated into Ant Financial’s payment authentication platform. The two companies have said that the acquisition will “allow the technology to be integrated into even more Ant Financial products”.

“Ant Financial’s vision to turn trust into wealth for small and micro enterprises as well as consumers worldwide resonates deeply with our own core mission,” said Toby Rush, founder and CEO of EyeVerify. “Our payment-grade biometric platform is already trusted by over three dozen banks and technology leaders, and we look forward to helping even more people across the financial spectrum access digital services with security and convenience.”

The two companies claim that the Eyeprint ID eliminates the need for traditional authentication methods such as passwords. The system transforms ordinary ‘selfies’ into a ‘key’ that protects consumers’ digital lives that include their mobile transactions.

An Eyeprint contains the visible veins and other unique micro features in and around the eye and are highly complex and unique to every individual. They can never be lost, stolen, or intercepted because the technology scrambles and encrypts the Eyeprint data locally – so it never leaves the device.

EyeVerify will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ant Financial and continue to be based in Kansas City. It is highly likely that with Alibaba’s financial might we will see more of EyeVerify in years to come.