Revolut Tests 'Pay with Smile' Facial Recognition Checkout in London Cafes
Revolut has launched a pilot of its facial recognition payment system, Pay with Smile, at select Kiss the Hippo coffee locations in London. The system uses biometric authentication to verify customers' identities and aims to reduce payment friction, with no processing fees for merchants. Revolut says facial data is deleted immediately after transactions and not shared with stores.
The pilot runs until September 26th at three Kiss the Hippo branches. It relies on Revolut Register, a two-screen POS system, and requires customers to enroll by matching a live selfie to one taken during signup. Merchants pay no processing fees during the trial.
Revolut states that facial embeddings are deleted immediately after each transaction and never shared with the cafe. The concept isn't new—Alipay's Smile to Pay appeared in 2017 and Tencent's Frog Pro in 2019—but Revolut positions this as a way to cut checkout friction and prevent lost sales.
This trial could normalize biometric payments in Western retail, but it may also heighten public anxiety over surveillance and data security. Consumers might trade convenience for privacy, while merchants could gain efficiency but face reputational risks if trust erodes. Regulators may scrutinize how biometric data is stored and deleted, potentially shaping future standards for similar systems.