Paying for facial recognition: Available in the hotel industry

A few years ago, in 2018, payment for facial recognition was considered the future. A technology that was born to help us in our business transactions.

In 2019, just one year ago, the Chinese were making headlines for the massive use of this payment method for much of their commerce.

Today, with good momentum, payment by facial recognition is already available in Spain. This is a boost that has the support of several banks, public institutions and companies from different sectors of the Spanish economic fabric.

According to data provided by several banking institutions, payment by mobile phone is common in 31% of Spanish people . This shows that we are ready to adopt new, faster and more convenient payment methods.

Find out how this mobile payment technology works, what the advantages are and where you can try it and live the experience.

Ideal solutions in times of pandemic

The new reality, as they call the world that appears after Covid-19, includes measures that distance us a little from what we are, but that – for the moment – keep us alive and safe from contagion.

Among these measures we have payment through platforms that do not contemplate the coming and going of cards, which means a security breach that could pass the virus from one hand to the other, making hundreds of people sick in a day’s work.

This has highlighted the need for new payment methods in the hotel and catering sector. This has been developing at a similar speed to what remote working meant for businesses.

Because, in today’s world, it is something that customers could demand of you.

Let’s see what concrete actions are being used to protect customers, through payment by facial recognition and other alternatives.

Face recognition and mobile payment

The first case we will address is the proposal of Panasonic and PopID, which consists of a payment system for facial recognition in restaurants.

The solution presented by this alliance consists of a mobile application that identifies the customers of your restaurant to automatically send them the bill of their consumption to the mobile payment application of their choice.

This system, which will also be included in several regions of the restaurants, such as take-out areas, will enable the safety of diners and workers.

In addition, it will provide a memorable user experience and a clear reduction in waiting times.

Another success for face recognition in Spain

In our country, CaixaBank joined the Paument Innovation Pole and Nestlé Market to launch the first facial recognition payment network in Spain.

The pilot for the use of this technology was tested in Barcelona at the Nestlé Market in Esplugues de Llobregat, demonstrating that – in addition to being a secure system – it improves the user experience and speeds up the purchasing process.

The use of the facial recognition payment system is so simple that it can be used by anyone, regardless of the user’s level of technological knowledge.

Step by step payment by facial recognition

The first thing you need to do is download the Nestlé Marketplace Face to Pay application for your phone. It’s available at official Android or iOS stores.

After installing the application, you will need to register with it, provide all your bank details and upload an image of your face, which will be used when using mobile payment.

Once in the Nestlé Marketplace, you will have an exclusive cashier for payment users with facial recognition. You will place your order as usual and everything will follow the usual path until payment is made.

At the cashier you will find a pill that, when you pay for your purchase, will allow you to capture an image of your face.

The tablet, which has an Internet connection, will communicate with the customer’s database and if your photo matches the image you took when you registered in the system, the payment will be processed and you will be able to enjoy your purchase without having to do anything else.

Other successful facial recognition tests for payment

Mobile payments are becoming increasingly common in our world, so the adoption of facial recognition is only one step in the process.

In Madrid, the Empresa Municipal de Transportes de Madrid (EMT) joined Mastercard to carry out a pilot project that would revolutionize the use of public transport in the country.

Users of the Madrid transport system must download an application to their mobile phone. As in the previous case, they must enter all their personal data and a photograph of their face in the application.

When the user is inside the bus, they will pay for their ticket simply by looking at the camera that will be installed inside the vehicle. This camera will be in charge of searching and validating the user’s face , paying for the consumption.

Is this system safe?

When a new technology of this type is launched, the first thing that comes to mind is the doubts about the security offered by the system.

The companies that are part of the complete technology that has been developing this technology have thought of everything.

The first thing we have to understand is that payment is not without help, that is, there will always be a person at the checkout to interact with us.

In this way, we avoid the possibility of fraud with a life-size impression of a person’s face, the use of 3D masks or the use of a wig to look like someone.

In addition, if the system detects any fraud attempt, it will request voice recognition, which will also be examined during our subscription to the payment application.

If none of the forms can be checked, the cashier will enter the game and proceed to charge the consumption as usual.

Without a doubt, as technology becomes more widespread and consolidated, payment by facial recognition will be one of the safest and least fraud-prone methods.

Payment by mobile phone in Spain How is it going?

As we said at the beginning of the post, payment by mobile phone is frequently used by more than 30% of the Spanish population. Fewer and fewer people use plastic cards and start using their mobile device as a means of payment.

But the system of payment by facial recognition is a technology that is beginning to be implemented, which still has detractors who may be stumbling, delaying its mass adoption.

However, it is necessary that you, as the owner of the industry, study the different possibilities of contactless payment that you can present to your customers.

The recommendation is that you analyze the options and adopt, in the shortest time possible, the method that best suits your needs, so that you can show the change to your customers before it becomes a requirement.

Remember that exceptional service is one of the factors that customers consider most when selecting a restaurant.