Will facial recognition be the payment method of the future?
Interestingly, China missed a payment technology, bypassing debit, and credit cards (due to a lack of simplicity and trust), instead jumping straight to mobile payments and QR codes.
But in the West, it’s been the opposite, with wide adoption of credit and debit cards, and mobile payments (through Apple & Google) struggling to gain traction.
Cash has been the trusted payment method in China for years, so much so that sellers had to provide cash on delivery payment methods to gain market traction for online sales.
Two factors have driven the change from cash to mobile payments in China. Simplicity and trust.
QR codes are now used throughout China, which makes it so simple to make payments to anyone, including buskers, taxi drivers and street vendors. Link this with a recent survey by China UnionPay, citing 98% of respondents believe mobile payments are safe. Explains the shift.
But what’s next for the East and the West?
Facial recognition payments seem to be next logical step.
Customers create an account on a phone, including a selfie and a payment method. When it’s time to pay, look into the payment tablets camera and once verified that’s it, the money is paid.
China is already a step ahead….
KFC in China is now using Alipay to take facial recognition payments. The Alipay technology uses a liveness algorithm, a 3D camera, and an analysis of over 600 facial features to determine a match.
7-eleven stores in China have also installed the technology with over 100 million people signing up.
Reports suggest the West are developing technologies too, but a mixture of software limitations and covid have slowed progress, and now estimates its release by 2025.
Will it be widely adopted though?
It’s going to come down to those 2 words again. Simplicity and trust. In essence. What’s the chance of people stealing my identity? And is it simple to use, do you just smile at the camera?
Wide-spread adoption of a product or service always comes down to simplicity and trust.
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