A KFC restaurant in Hangzhou, China is testing a new facial recognition payment system that lets you pay for your meal by simply smiling at a camera. The new payment method called “Smile to Pay” was launched in partnership with Alipay, the popular mobile and online payment platform created by Chinese conglomerate Alibaba.
Customers who decide to use the new facial payment method must also enter their phone number as a second form of authentication.
Even though it looks silly, this new form of payment is actually something Alibaba has been working on for many years. Company president Jack Ma demonstrated some of the underlying technology two years ago at IFA in Germany. The company that built the underlying technology, Megvii, raised $100 million from investors in December.
This isn’t the first time KFC has shown interest in facial-recognition technology, either. Last year, KFC’s Chinese division partnered with Baidu to create new tech-infused “smart restaurants” that used similar technology to scan a customer’s face and make food order suggestions based on their mood, age, and gender.
