Ant Financial Lets KFC Customers Pay by Smiling

Alibaba Group’s Ant Financial Services Group is allowing Chinese consumers to pay for KFC in Hangzhou through a contactless payment system using facial recognition to verify users and pay for meals with just a flash of their smiles. This is intended to appeal to urban professionals with a seasonal menu, ordering kiosks, and a pay-by-smile option.

Smile to Pay system is a joint venture between Alibaba’s Financial and a KFC store in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, where Ant Financial’s global headquarters is also located. The system scans a consumer’s face in one to two seconds using a 3D camera and algorithms to verify the identity of the customer and confirm the payment. For an additional layer of protection against fraud, the company is requiring customer’s to type in his or her mobile phone number.

The store is designed with a welcoming “greenhouse” layout and open kitchen, creating what Yum China called a “friendly and vibrant food market atmosphere.”

According to a report, the menu includes seasonal produce and made-to-order salads, paninis and roasted chicken, as well as freshly squeezed juice, gourmet coffee, craft beer and premium ice cream.

Jidong Chen, head of biometric identification technology at Ant Financial, said that, “Taking the facial-recognition payment technology offline was no easy task.”

“On how we detect when someone’ photo is being manipulated when someone is falsely impersonating another person, we prevent this my merging software and hardware by linking sophisticated algorithms with a 3D camera. We can prevent biometric spoofing.”

The company noted that through the use of its algorithms, it is able to tell if the person in front of the mobile camera or a photo or a video of someone is trying to play with the technology.

The technology was first unveiled in early 2015 by Jack Ma, CEO of Ant Financial parent Alibaba Group, at IFA in Germany demonstrating some of its early capabilities. Since then, the technology has been vastly improved.

Paying through facial scan is not that well-known in the U.S., but in China, which is leading in the world of digital payments, consumers are already comfortable paying without the need for their mobile phone.

According to a research firm, the estimated digital transactions in China hit $8.8 trillion last year, with Alibaba’s Alipay in the lead. Alibaba had 54% share of the mobile payment market during the fourth quarter of last year, followed by Tencent, which had 37% share, while Apple Pay has a 1.8% share at the end of 2016, according to a consultancy firm.

Ant Financial’s choice of retail partner could prove as important as the technology itself. KFC restaurants in China are operated by fast food chain Yum China, which according to a report, it runs more than 7,685 outlets in the country, providing some rooms for the finance company to expand.

“Elevating the customer experience through new designs, flavors, and technologies have always been central to our approach at KFC in China. We are excited to partner with Alipay to bring the world’s first commercial application of the facial recognition payment solution to our customers,” said Johnson Huang, General Manager of KFC.

“We are exited to launch KPro – an exciting and fresh new concept for young, tech savvy consumers who are keen to embrace new tastes and innovations,” said Joey Wat, President and Chief Operating Officer of Yum China, in a statement. 

“Developed to cater China’s burgeoning population of urban professionals, KPro offers a creative, modern and a seasonal menu with a wide range of dishes that are freshly made to order.”

If proven effective, Alibaba’s “Smile to Pay” may help increase the Alipay’s popularity and close the gap against Tencent’s widely popular WeChat Pay which utilizes the WeChat messenger app.

Want to get updated on the latest news about the stock market? Subscribe now at Trade12. We will let you know the latest happenings about forex, commodities and economies.