X5 Retail Group deploys pay with a glance tech at Russian stores
Russian food retailer, X5 Retail Group, has partnered with Sberbank and Visa to launch a ‘pay with a glance’ service at self-service checkout terminals.
Currently available at 52 Perekrestok supermarkets, this uses biometric identification based on X5's innovation lab technology and VisionLabs solutions.
It is set to be rolled out at 150 Perekrestok locations by the end of March, with several of Moscow’s Pyaterochka proximity stores following suit in April.
The exact schedule for further scaling and implementation will depend on the results of this first stage of the project. In total, biometric payment technology may be expanded to some 3,000 X5 stores by the end of 2021.
After scanning their shopping at a self-service checkout, built in-house, customers can select an option to ‘pay with a glance’, take off their mask for a second and look into a 3D camera.
The option is currently only available to shoppers who are Sberbank clients. The biometric data is stored at the FI and transmitted in an encrypted form. No other companies working on the project have access to it.
Igor Shekhterman, CEO at X5 Retail Group, comments: “In 2020, the first place where we launched this technology commercially was a Moscow coffee shop chain.”
“Today’s launch of the project in one of Russia’s largest retail chains demonstrates that our ambition to develop innovative payment methods is shared by our partners, who are as eager to introduce them as we are.”
He adds: “You don’t need cash, bank cards, or smartphones to use the service – all you need to do is ‘present’ your face and the payment will be posted.”
“This is a fast, convenient and secure technology of the future, and we are among the first to be introducing it in Russia and worldwide”
He concludes: “I’m convinced that contactless biometric payment solutions will very soon be used universally, and this payment method will become as customary as paying with a bank card or a smartphone.”
