Nestlé pilots face recognition payments in Barcelona

Finger pointing to Face to Pay Nestle CaixaBank Face Recognition POS
FAST CHECKOUT: Once registered via the Nestlé Face to Pay app, shoppers can pay using face recognition

Food giant Nestlé is testing face recognition payments at Nestlé Market, a concept supermarket in Barcelona, Spain, that stocks the company’s established brands as well as the latest additions to its range.

To use the service, shoppers download a Face to Pay Nestlé Market app for iOS or Android and register their personal details, bank card and a facial image. They can then check out using a dedicated fast checkout lane.

To pay, customers take a selfie with a camera connected to a tablet-based POS terminal. The Face to Pay system then compares their image with a centrally-stored biometric template captured during registration.

The service is open to customers of any bank, and no card, phone or other identifier is required.

Nestlé is working with CaixaBank and the Payment Innovation Hub, a multi-sector alliance comprising Global Payments, Visa, Samsung and Arval as well as CaixaBank, on the three-month pilot.

The group also recently implemented the facial payments service at restaurant services group Viena’s Rodilla cafeteria at Barcelona Tech City’s Pier01 outlet.

CaixaBank has installed face recognition ATMs at branches in Barcelona and Valencia, and plans to deploy the technology “gradually at other points of the CaixaBank network over the coming months”. The ATMs let customers make cardless cash withdrawals without entering a PIN.

“For CaixaBank, the initiative represents a step further in its strategy of committing to facial recognition technology in environments where its application can provide an advantage for the customer in terms of user experience and security,” the bank says.

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