Abstract: The invention described here provides a fully-distributed solution to the problem of confirming the identity of the presenter of a payment card or other credentials, using multiple factors to authenticate the presenter. The invention leverages the wide penetration of mobile phones in modern economies as the basis for the distributed multi-factor authentication. For additional confidence levels biometric data can be incrementally included as part of the multi-factor authentication. The loss of any one of the multiple authentication factors does not compromise the integrity of the system or the individual, and there is no single point of vulnerability for attack or theft. The invention is fully backwards compatible with current payment cards systems and can be extended to almost any situation where the identity of the presenter of credentials needs to be authenticated prior to allowing the individual access to the protected services, systems, or locations.