With increasing biometric adoption, facial recognition payment is gaining momentum

Facial recognition technology is already here to stay. It is currently being used in the industry to prevent frauds and any uncertainties. Since the digital adoption trend, last year has seen a tremendous spike, facial recognition garnered a lot of interest from enterprises. In financial services, it has a significant impact on the payment system. Payments powered by facial recognition, or facial recognition payments, are starting to take place in various countries. It is expected to be a considerable growth trend to the contactless payments that are already in use.

In the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, the trends towards embracing e-wallet technology and contactless payments have become prevalent around the world. Facial recognition payments are widely used in China. Already, a majority of convenience stores in the country have capitalized on facial recognition-enabled payment methods.

According to the advisory firm ABI Research, there will be up to 2.5 million biometric payment cards issued in 2021. This indicates that facial payments could be the de facto payment type of the future. 

How Does Facial Recognition Payment Work?

Facial recognition payment is emerging as a new digital payment method. Facial recognition usually recognizes a person’s identity through his/her face. It is even defined as a secured alternative to conventional passwords; smartphones, for example. This biometric technology is constructive in today’s digital age where cybersecurity is a top concern for everyone. Some of the advantages facial recognition offers include ease of use, omnichannel strategy, real-time effectiveness, and most importantly, enhanced security because the physical characteristics of a face are impossible to counterfeit.

individuals can make payments through facial recognition in just a matter of seconds. They just need to tap “Pay with Face Recognition” on the screen of the device. The device scans the face and recognizes the user. The user then needs to tap Confirm Payment and the payment is done.

For instance, PopID, a Los Angeles-based tech company, uses facial recognition software to enable its customers to pay at restaurants. The company’s PopPay platform is installed at over 100 restaurants and advances PopEntry products that allow customers to enter a workplace or building via facial recognition.

Concerns Around Facial Recognition Payment

Biometric identity verification is considered a greater security tool than other security measures. It is almost impossible to breach by criminals. While it provides greater efficiency for the payment process, the rapid growth of facial recognition has also triggered many concerns around its reliability and effectiveness.

Privacy around users’ data is one of the major concerns of using biometric technology. Without citizen consent, using their data by companies is undeniably a violation of privacy and indeed, there is a need for stronger policy reinforcement. In the United States and many parts of the Western countries, facial recognition systems from Facebook, Apple, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, have sparked intense consumer debate. Privacy advocates have already sought the systems’ ability from these tech giants to scan people’s faces and recognize them without their consent.

Wall Street Journal also reported that “The payment technology has largely failed to gain popularity, analysts say, as some consumers have found the sign-up process cumbersome and had concerns about how their images and data would be used.”

However, newer regulations like the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) put data security concerns in the right direction to safeguard consumer privacy.

To wrap up, facial recognition payment could have a positive impact on the future of payments. However, this technology still needs to improve to address numerous issues associated with data security and the overall customer experience.