Revolut is launching a facial recognition payment system that will allow UK customers to pay in shops using a glance or smile, without a phone, card or wallet.
UK shoppers will soon be able to pay for goods by smiling, after Revolut announced what it describes as the UK’s first in-store facial recognition checkout.
The payments company is launching Revolut Pay with Smile, which allows customers to authenticate a payment using their face rather than a bank card, smartphone or wallet.
The system is designed for existing Revolut customers and uses facial recognition technology to match a customer’s identity with the selfie verification completed when they opened their account.
Once registered, shoppers can look at the payment terminal to authenticate a transaction.
Revolut says payments can be completed within seconds, with the process designed to provide a quick alternative to traditional contactless payments.
As reported by Tech Radar, the technology was demonstrated at a Kiss the Hippo coffee shop in central London, where customers were able to try the system for themselves.
Revolut says Pay with Smile is powered by its new Revolut Register, a modular two-screen point-of-sale system designed to combine payments, banking and other functions used by businesses.
The company says the system could also help small businesses if conventional payment terminals experience hardware or software problems by providing another way to accept payments.
For merchants, Revolut is offering 0% processing fees through Pay with Smile. Transactions are protected using end-to-end encryption managed within the Revolut app, while Revolut says merchants do not store customers’ personal data.
The technology marks another expansion of facial recognition into everyday payments, although it also raises questions about how consumers will respond to using biometric information for routine purchases.
Unlike conventional contactless payments, which can be used by anyone carrying a compatible card or phone, Pay with Smile is tied to a customer’s Revolut identity and requires the user to have completed the company’s selfie-based identity checks.
The launch comes as retailers increasingly experiment with biometric technology, contactless payments and other methods designed to make checkout faster and less dependent on physical cards.
Revolut Register is already available to merchants, with the company offering a 50 percent discount on a first terminal until 31 December 2026.
The discounted price is £349.50 plus VAT, compared with a recommended retail price of £699 plus VAT.
UK customers can pay by smiling
