Chinese consumers have new North American payment option

North American retailers can securely speed up AliPay and WeChat Pay transactions.

Payment gateway SnapPay Inc. is introducing facial recognition payment technology for North American retailers. The technology is based on available facial recognition platforms available in Asia, and enables consumers to digitally pay with a qualified digital snapshot during the checkout process. SnapPay intends to help retailers minimize the time for consumers to checkout and aid the value proposition for more self-checkout lanes in store.

SnapPay enables North American merchants to accept digital payments from Chinese mobile platforms AliPay and WeChat, which have over 2.1 billion combined active users. Consumers can digitally pay in Chinese currency from the app, while retailers get paid in U.S. or Canadian currency.

“Facial recognition technology is an increasingly popular method of payment among global consumers,” said Spencer Xu, CEO and founder of SnapPay. “By enabling consumers to pay with their ‘face’ North American merchants, particularly those with self-service kiosks, are providing an unprecedented level of convenience and speed in the checkout process, to a lucrative customer segment that increasingly demands it.”

Biometric authentication methods, such as facial recognition, are starting to gain popularity as a means of authorizing mobile payments. The new Apple Card authorizes every purchase with facial recognition or biometric touch, and Amazon is reported to be internally piloting new technology that scans an individual’s hand to recognize them for automatic payment.