#pay-by-face

[retailtouchpoints]

Is Pay-By-Face Going Too Far?

By Debbie Hauss, Editor-in-Chief

I just can’t get the image of John Travolta and Nicolas Cage from the movie Face/Off out of my mind since last week when my son sent me the link to the NPR story about a new technology that could allow shoppers to pay with their face.

This story also prompted RetailWire to post a discussion about the potential of the new technology. Finland-based Uniqul reports that its facial recognition payment system will enable customers to pay simply by having their face identified at checkout.

On the Uniqul web site, the company promotes the benefits of this new technology: “We decided to take convenience to a whole new level. Imagine going in to a kiosk, picking up a newspaper at the cashier, clicking ‘Ok’ on a Uniqul tablet and walking away. Imagine a day at the beach when you don’t have to think about where to store your wallet during your swims. Imagine a new form of payments.”

Most of the RetailWire Braintrust panel members think pay-by-face is too “out there” for the majority of U.S. shoppers, and I tend to agree.

For example, Herb Sorensen, Ph.D., Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Enrenberg-Bass Institute, noted: “I'm doubting facial recognition is ‘IT.’ I do think the current privacy kerfuffles are going to take longer to settle, and have a larger societal impact than we might think. In a sense, the real issue is how do we prove who we are, and keep anyone else from successfully stealing ‘us,’ that is, our identity. This won't be settled in a year or two, and maybe not in a decade or two, plus.”

I second the motion that we continue moving forward with the mobile wallet and pay-by-smartphone, and avoid the pay-by-face distraction, for now…