Are you tired of reaching all the way into your pocket to pay? Well now you can pay with the twinkle of your eye.
Customers dining at KFC’s healthy spinoff KPRO in mainland China no longer need to whip out their wallet. Just order at the touch screen, look into the camera and confirm payment with your telephone number. Voila! You’re identified and all paid up.
Creeped out yet? The creators of “Smile to Pay” say you shouldn’t be. In fact, developers contend that facial recognition technology adds an unprecedented level of security. Faces are harder to forge than signatures and harder to steal than pin codes. Faces are detected using a 3D camera plus a “live-ness detection algorithm” which further prevents fraud reports Alizila. Smile and Pay is now available in 300 locations throughout China, according to BioMetricUpdate.com.
Smile to Pay is a facial recognition technology launched by Alipay, an affiliate of the tech giant Alibaba. Smile to Pay debuted at the health food chain KPRO hoping to target Chinese youth. Tech-savvy and health conscious millennials are the perfect audience to try something as culturally revolutionary as this. KPRO like its sister chain KFC, are part of Yum China, the Chinese branch of Yum Brands which includes Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. Which leaves us all to wonder, “Will pizza be next?”
“Digital is transforming the restaurant industry and we are excited to test cutting-edge technologies at scale and bring new experiences to our customers,” says Yum China CEO Joey Wat. “We are using technology to redefine every touch point of the customer journey. With our in-store technology applications, KFC and Pizza Hut Super Apps and partnerships with leading technology partners, we have created a powerful digital ecosystem that offers a seamless experience for our customers whether they are on mobile, online or dining in restaurants. We will continue to explore the latest technologies to create unique dining experiences and offer our customers more convenient and personalized services.”
Is the American market ready to embrace facial recognition payment systems? After all it is a brave new world. Although some might call it 1984.
