After introducing a number of improvements in mobile and online banking in 2020 and launching digital wallets for convenient payment with a smartphone for all its cardholders, Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria launched a pilot project for payment only with the help of facial recognition.
„The aim is to see the attitudes of consumers in Bulgaria to pay in this innovative way,” according to the press release.
The tests are implemented in partnership with the startup PayByFace as part of the Visa Innovation Program – an initiative of Visa and Eleven Ventures to support the entry of the latest fintech innovations in the real business of established companies.
„It is extremely exciting for us to test payments with facial recognition and see what is the attitude of Bulgarian consumers to one of the latest methods of identification. This pilot project, together with PayByFace, for us is another step towards providing even more interesting, secure and convenient payment for our customers, because the bank card of customers is really their smile,” says Mariela Atanasova, Director of” Individual banking ”in Raiffeisenbank.
Mihai Dragici – Founder and CEO of PayByFace, said: „At PayByFace we are excited to have the opportunity to test our payment system based on face recognition, in partnership with Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria. This pilot project is a great opportunity for us to gain trust through an association.”
„We are pleased that our work with startups in the Visa Innovation Program, which we have been leading for the last two years, is bearing fruit and confirms the hypothesis that there can be a very good partnership between startups and large companies, from which everyone benefits, most already customers,” notes Rene Tomova, Design Partner at Eleven Ventures.
In order to be able to pay only with facial features, users must register in the PayByFace application, where they can take selfies and enter their payment card details. A device is mounted on the cash register – a tablet that recognizes the facial features of the customer to allow payment. Thus, the customer receives the product without touching any device, and his face replaces the payment card.
For now, the innovative service is in a test period and is available to Raiffeisenbank customers who pay at the Luna bistro in the EXPO 2000 office center, where the bank’s headquarters are located. The trial period of the service will last until the end of April 2021.
_____________
PayByFace BV is a fintech startup founded by Mihai Dragici: the company was originally registered in Romania, where the PayByFace payment system is available in more than 100 locations.
Through the Visa Innovation program and the partnership with Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria), PayByFace includes a Bulgarian subsidiary to expand its offer in Sofia and the rest of Bulgaria.
PayByFace is a founding member of the Romanian Fintech Association – Rofin.Tech
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
