Shinhan Card biometric facial recognition retail payment service now live

Apr 10, 2020 | Luana Pascu

Shinhan Card biometric facial recognition retail payment service now live

Korean credit card company Shinhan Card has introduced Shinhan Face Pay, which The Korea Times reports is the country’s first biometric facial recognition payment service.

An infrastructure for facial payments has already been set up at Hanyang University’s Seoul campus, where it includes 16 venues, such as restaurants and convenience stores. To use the system, users first have to register their facial details and card information at a bank.

“The facial recognition payment is the final destination of the payment innovation,” said Ryoo Tae-hyun, head of the firm’s digital first division. “We will continue enhancing convenience and security of the service, and turn it into the standard of future payments.”

A pilot started in August 2019 to first test the product before making it widely available. In October 2019, the Financial Services Commission recognized Shinhan Face Pay with the Innovative Financial Service award, for its AI and biometric technology. Future plans include expanding the infrastructure across the country and adding more retail companies to their partner portfolio.

Especially now when social distancing is actively enforced to reduce coronavirus transmission, facial biometrics are being deployed globally to meet increasing demand for contactless operations. According Research And Markets, the coronavirus crisis has indeed generated a high demand for biometric facial recognition as a contactless alternative.

Russia, for example, has already introduced its Unified Biometric System (EBS) for payments at grocery stores. Last month, VeriTrans in partnership with NEC Corporation delivered a biometric facial recognition solution for cashless payments at stores in Japan. Two African banks introduced around that same time facial biometrics for retail payments in Nigeria and mobile services in South Africa.

UnionCommunity reported a major increase in inquiries and sales of its biometric face and iris recognition products in the Middle East since February, as contactless biometrics see increased export rates due to the spread of COVID-19.