Smile & spend!

Facial recognition is now seriously advancing to a whole new level… At least for me! 😌

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In this article that I stumbled upon, Alipay (a third-party mobile and online payment platform by Alibaba) has launched a new payment technology, Smile to Pay, where users can verify their payments through facial scanning and keying in their phone number. I am officially frickin intrigued.😱

The company claims to use a 3D camera and a type of algorithm that can detect features coming only from live beings, preventing unauthorised payments with photos or videos. 🤝 😁

In fact, the tech giant is so optimistic with this new form of payment that they are willing to cover all losses in the event of theft. Talk about quality, man. 👏

Source: Giphy

I am already an enthusiast and I’d actually test this out! I mean, there’s a guarantee, so what’s there to lose? 🤷‍♂️ 😎

Source: Giphy

Also, speaking of facial recognition, during the launch Apple’s new iPhone X, executive Craig Federighi awkwardly failed to demonstrate Face ID (their new facial recognition software) to unlock the screen. 😟

The company is also using Face ID on banking apps such as Apple Pay. 💰

Source: Giphy

Check out the video below!

I’ll be honest that after witnessing this humiliating fail, I think I change my stance on payments with facial recognition! I won’t trust it if it doesn’t offer loss coverage. Reasonable, right? 😤

Source: Giphy

So question, guaranteed or not guaranteed, would you trust regardless? 👮‍♀️ 👀

Also, do you reckon this distinctive method of payment would be pivotal in digital financial services? 🤑