Featured Image Credit: Acrelec / Facebook / Pop ID
Cards and contactless payments may become a thing of the past.
Facial ID payment company PopID is expanding its reach across the U.S., bringing facial recognition technology to everyday establishments.
It works like this.
Users simply register by taking a selfie and then verify their identity and payment transaction by looking at the restaurant's camera, according to CNBC.
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In essence, it acts very similar to Apple's Face ID.
The Cali-based software company explained the tech on its website, reading: 'PopID is the universal gateway for verifying an individual's identity based on their face for applications such as loyalty and payment.'
One fast food chain in the States, Steak ‘N Shake, is already installing PopID readers at 300 locations in the Midwest.
The facial recognition technology only needs two or three seconds to verify customers so it's much faster than fishing through your wallet. But perhaps not much faster than using your phone to pay as this is already pretty instantaneous.
Additionally, CaliExpress is another restaurant implementing the revolutionary payment method.
Though it's not their first time dipping into the AI world as the company already uses robots to flip its burgers.
A pilot study into this type of technology was found to be a success. A couple of years ago, Mastercard teamed up with PopID in Brazil and found that 76% of users said they would recommend the technology to a friend.
'Our focus on biometrics as a secure way to verify identity, replacing the password with the person, is at the heart of our efforts in this area,' said Dennis Gamiello a Mastercard executive vice president of identity products and innovation.
Gamiello mentioned that the positive feedback has driven the push to encourage the technology into other markets this year.
However, the storing of such sensitive information has caused some legal stirs.
For example, last month an Illinois woman sued Target for illegally collecting her biometrics without her consent.
Amazon has also faced accusations of illegally using employee facial scans and sharing them with third parties against Illinois law.
Still, PopID CEO John Miller predicts a major year for this advance in technology. Evidently, his company recently secured a major deal with JP Morgan for both face and palm readers.
'We believe our partnership with JPMorgan is a watershed moment for biometric payments as it represents the first time a leading merchant acquirer has agreed to push biometric payments to its merchant customers,' Miller said.
