Biometric payments gaining popularity across Russia, Japan

Facial recognition-based payments are becoming a popular method to pay public transit tickets, while biometric payment solutions are also rising in retail.

Smile to Pay, a biometric payment method offered by Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, has expanded its network of biometric payment terminals at public transportation systems.

On Tuesday, the Yekaterinburg metro announced it has equipped all of its turnstiles with Smile to Pay terminals, which allow passengers to purchase tickets through facial recognition. Expansion is also underway at Nizhny Novgorod, Samara and Novosibirsk.

The service was launched in late 2024 and now covers six cities. Sberbank says that over 1.2 million rides have been paid with Smile to Pay since the launch.

The biometric service may soon face a competitor. Alfa-Bank has launched a pilot for a new facial recognition payment system, which it’s calling “Pay with a Glance.”

The biometric payment service is designed for offline purchases. Alfa-Bank is currently testing it on its own terminals while access to the service is open to bank employees using Android devices, newspaper Gazeta reports.

The technology was implemented jointly with the National Payment Card System (NSPK). Alfa-Bank is planning to cooperate with other market participants to develop the technology.

Japanese trains trial facial recognition payments

One of Japan’s major passenger railway companies, the East Japan Railway (JREast), is also following global trends by testing facial recognition ticketing on one of its shinkansen lines.

JREast plans to pilot the technology between Niigata and Nagaoka stations in central Japan until next March. About 500 regular commuters are expected to join the test.

Biometric cameras have been installed in tunnel-like gates to match the faces of passengers against a pre-registered facial image database. A passenger receives a green light when the face has been correctly matched and a red light in the case of a mismatch.

JR East plans to introduce facial recognition-based ticketless gates on all of its lines within the next 10 years, according to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK.

Turkmenistan company presents biometric payment hardware

Biometric payments are also becoming popular in other countries.

Türkmen-innowasiýa, a private company supplying ATMs from GRG, Verifone payment terminals and PAX payment terminals, has introduced new biometric payment hardware based on facial recognition.

The devices and terminals were showcased at the Türkmentel-2025 international exhibition, which showcases the latest technological solutions from the region.

The company is known for the national instant payment system, which allows citizens to pay utilities and fines, news outlet Tayk reports.

Article Topics

biometric payments  |  biometrics  |  contactless biometrics  |  facial recognition  |  Japan  |  Russia