Shoppers can now use their face to pay for everyday purchases for the first time, in a move that has sparked fears from privacy campaigners.
Revolut has unveiled the first-ever ‘pay with smile’ system, meaning customers won’t need their phone or cards to make a purchase.
The facial recognition technology will be on trial at the Hippo cafes in Bloomsbury, Chelsea and Soho, all in London, from September 24 to 26.
When checking out at a Revolut Register, shoppers can tap ‘Pay with Smile’ on a screen to complete a face identity check, similar to unlocking a smartphone.
The facial scan will process the payment after it has verified the shopper’s identity by checking it against information provided when signing up to Revolut.
All customers need to do to use the feature is to opt in to Revolut Pay with Smile in their Revolut app settings.
The bank is trialling the payment method at Kiss the Hippo, a coffee shop chain in London, until Saturday.
Elliott Callender, the founder of the AI consultancy firm, Remote Humans, posted a video of himself on LinkedIn ’paying with a smile’ today.
The video shows the app using his phone’s front-facing camera to scan his face before asking his consent for the company to ‘process [his] biometric data to verify [his] identity to process payments’.
Callender filmed himself paying, which involved him looking into a camera on a tablet connected to the cafe till to scan his face.
The bank stressed that their users will not be opted in by default and consent can be withdrawn at any time.
Revolut said they encrypt facial recognition data end-to-end and that personal data will not be stored by merchants.
However, the new payment methods have sparked fears from personal privacy campaigners.
Big Brother Watch warned that ‘no system is ever entirely secure’.
Their Head of Advocacy Jack Coulson said: ‘How people want to conduct their banking is their choice, but they should be under no illusions that giving away their biometrics is safe”
‘Revolut may feel they are offering convenience, but they are also normalising a dangerous technology, and it is users who bear the risk.
‘You can get a new passport, but your face is irreplaceable. Lost face scans can be used to fool identity checks and produce deepfakes, including sexualised images. The kind of potential violation is profound and unprecedented.’
Professor Btijah Ajana is a biometrics expert has seen the technology in action in China, told she was concerned that the ”collection of biometric data is becoming a routine practice’.
The King’s College London Professor added that it risks ‘eroding the person’s anonymity’, unlike with card or cash when ‘your physical presence isn’t directly linked to a centralised identity database’.
Prof Ajana continued: ‘It normalises surveillance in the name of convenience and security…making compliance passive and opting out increasingly difficult.’
The expert also warned: ‘Once facial vectors are leaked or compromised, the security risk cannot be reset or revoked. You cannot change your face the way you change your password.’
‘This turns a security vulnerability into a permanent, unfixable risk.’
The technology is first being piloted from today and will be rolled out more widely in due course.
Revolut is also offering 0% processing fees on Revolut Pay with Smile transactions, which is said to ease the burden on independent venues.
Alex Codina, general manager of merchant payments at Revolut Business, said: ‘By combining high-performance processing with facial recognition technology, we’re replacing outdated, fragmented tills with a hyper-efficient checkout experience designed to solve consumer and merchant pain points.’
Alex Damgaci, managing director at Kiss the Hippo Coffee, said: ‘We’re looking forward to welcoming guests to try Pay with Smile at our Bloomsbury, Soho and Chelsea cafes before we roll out across all 12 of our cafes later this year.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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