Poland is to become the European testing ground for a new biometric checkout programme from Mastercard, using a fusion of facial and iris recognition.
Under the pilot, shoppers will be able to pay by glance at five selected stores of book and media chain Empik.
Mastercard is collaborating wtih local fintech PayEye and technology partner Planet Pay for the test run.
To accept payments in the PayEye system, a merchant must equip itself with a special eyepos terminal. The process requires precise calibration, eliminating the risk of accidentally looking at the terminal and making a payment.
Marta Życińska, general manager of Mastercard Europe’s Polish branch, says: "The pilot we initiate today with Empik and PayEye also confirms Mastercard’s commitment to developing local technologies and supporting the Polish electronic payments market. We believe that biometrics can provide consumers with the best-in-class experiences, balancing convenience and security, and we look forward to scaling our programme here in Poland.”
Mastercard unveiled its biometric checkout programme in June 2022 and has since implemented several biometric payment pilots across Asia pacific and Latin America.