JPMorgan Payments has partnered with identity verification technology firm PopID to pilot biometric payments at selected merchants across the US.

The pay-by-face biometric payment system allows shoppers to pay for their goods without the need to use their phones or credit cards.

Fast food chain Whataburger will be one of the retailers trialling the payment method and already accepts biometric payments. The company said it has seen a positive impact after implementing biometric payments such as faster checkout times and increased engagement with its loyalty scheme.

The technology uses enhanced facial identification to create a secure method to determine the customer’s identity.

During enrolment, the customer takes a photo of their face that is converted into a template, encrypted and securely stored in the PopID cloud.

When making a purchase, the template of the transaction is matched against the template stored in the cloud and informs the result of the match to the merchant.

Customers can utilise their facial biometrics at any participating pilot merchant after they have signed up.

They can also opt-in and out of the programme at any time at their discretion.

Research from PopID has shown the platform can decrease ordering and check out times by up to 90 seconds per transaction, whilst increasing ticket size by four per cent.

South Florida Motorsports (SFM) was the first client to use JP Morgan Payments’ biometric payments technology, trialling the system at an event in May this year.

“This is a giant step forward in helping our clients reimagine the entire retail experience for their customers and bringing best-in-class biometrics payments solutions to the market,” said Jean-Marc Thienpont, managing director, omnichannel & biometric solutions at JPMorgan Payments. “We offer something that is hard to match - the stability, scale and trust of a world-class bank combined with the technology and agility of a fintech.”

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