The technology is based on available facial recognition platforms available in Asia, but will serve a local North American introduction of the technology to mainstream retail. SnapPay will be demonstrating the technology today at the Retail Council of Canada’s Retail West Show, at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver, and at next week’s Grocery Innovations Canada (GIC) show in Toronto.

Facial recognition is a new capability of SnapPay’s payment platform that enables consumers to digitally pay with a qualified digital snapshot during the checkout process. For merchants, it helps minimize the time for consumers to checkout, aids the value proposition for more self-check out lanes in store, and helps merchants stay at the forefront with the latest technology offerings in the payments’ landscape.

“Facial recognition technology is an increasingly popular method of payment among global consumers,” said Spencer Xu, CEO and founder of SnapPay. “By enabling consumers to pay with their ‘face’ North American merchants, particularly those with self-service kiosks, are providing an unprecedented level of convenience and speed in the checkout process, to a lucrative customer segment that increasingly demands it.”

Juniper Research forecasts that mobile biometrics will authenticate $2 trillion in in-store and remote mobile-payments transactions in 2023, driven by over 2,500% growth. In addition, the facial-recognition market is projected to double to $9 billion between 2018 and 2024, according to Mordor Intelligence, a consulting and advisory firm.
“Retailers in Canada are eager to explore technologies that will help improve the retail experience for their customers. SnapPay is a very interesting new player offering new solutions in the Canadian payments ecosystem. We’re looking forward to being first to see this new technology in use at Retail West,” said Mary Markou, Senior Director, Sponsorship Retail Council of Canada.

The facial recognition feature can successfully trigger and complete the payment transaction with a simple 3-D snapshot of the user’s face and can also help merchants tie this into loyalty programs within their brands, easing the consumer experience for shoppers.

Facial recognition technology authenticates user payment account, and seamlessly completes the transaction without the merchant or consumer needing to touch money. No need to worry about wallets, having cash, or even your phone, all you need is your smile to pay for your next in-store purchase.