Facial payments might be the future of transactions since they are more convenient and faster than cards.

The Covid-19 pandemic has transformed industries and brought changes in the functioning of the world economy. During the scenario, almost everything went digital and we could access services from our personal spaces without moving an inch. The banking sector redefined its operations and customer services with automation and AI. Transactions became digital with digital wallets, PayTM, GooglePay, etc. How much easier can it get? If we think about facial recognition taking up other payment methods, we can say that life can get much easier than it is today. In fact, the reign of facial payment has already begun. The payment methods have evolved from liquid payment to card payments with QR codes and chips. Biometrics also did a part in the evolution wherein we used fingerprints and iris scanning to perform transactions.

Imagine when you can smile at a screen do transactions in an instant. A BBC report talks about facial payments by quoting a similar incident where Sara Stewart walks into a restaurant and does contactless payment using a facial recognition method. The report says, “She uses facial recognition payment, via a US tech start-up called PopID. You sign up via its website, by uploading a photograph of your face, which is stored on the firm's cloud-based system. You then link your account to your bank card.”

With PopID, the customer’s picture is transformed into a digital key and the cloud matches the encrypted image to confirm identity. This application also enables tipping through any self-approved hand gesture and is becoming common in the US.

A survey conducted by FICO in Britain revealed that, for logging into a banking app, 48% said they would be happy to use a fingerprint scan, 25% opted a facial image, and 23% a voiceprint. The survey also mentions that nearly a quarter reported that they abandoned an online purchase because of forgetting their username or password.

Passwords have always been the traditional security method and in case you forget them, it becomes a never-ending pain. Especially if you cannot reset it. With facial payments, you don’t have to remember or carry anything with you other than your face. Well, that might not be a big problem right?

Face payments can eliminate many problems people face with other types of transactions. Since facial recognition does not require your phone/card/IDs, it is easier and convenient. Facial payments are suitable for the elderly and children as it doesn’t involve any complicated processes. With face payments, you don’t have to stand in long queues and there will be very few errors in such a process. The biometric payment systems enable better security since they use unique identification features like fingerprint or face. Hence, it is can reduce identity and money thefts. In the current period of ‘new normal’, face payments play a pivotal role since they are contactless and do not require card/money exchanges.

As the old wise saying goes, every coin has two sides and so do biometric payment methods. There needs to be better image processing for better identification which is on the way. There will be a humongous amount of data to be monitored and secured in the case of biometric payments and there should be proper technologies and mechanisms to manage them. Facial recognition has already faced backlashes regarding its bias towards people of colour and genders and thus, face payment interfaces might misidentify people. Biometric payment methods have also received security and privacy concerns since facial recognition can be invasive.

A 2017 VentureBeat article says that consumers in the near future will have to grapple with the fact that Echo is always listening and their iPhone is always watching. This is true and we should understand that everything we do on the internet leaves a trail. Hence, facial payments with better regulations can address the concerns and deliver a convenient payment method soon.