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Revolut Pilots Face-Scan Payments at London Cafes
The pilot requires opt-in consent and encrypts facial data end to end, while Revolut offers 0% processing fees to participating venues.
On Thursday, Revolut launched a facial recognition payment pilot in London, enabling customers to pay with a "simple glance" at Kiss the Hippo Coffee cafes in Bloomsbury, Chelsea, and Soho.
Alex Codina, general manager of merchant payments at Revolut Business, said the system aims to replace fragmented tills with a hyper-efficient checkout experience using Revolut Register terminals.
Revolut offers 0% processing fees on transactions to support independent venues and encrypts facial data end-to-end, ensuring merchants do not store personal information.
Customers must actively opt in through their Revolut app settings, then tap Pay with Smile at terminals to verify identity against account checks, authorizing account-to-account payments.
Kiss the Hippo Coffee managing director Alex Damgaci plans to expand the feature across all 12 of their cafes later this year after the initial London pilot.