PayPal Testing Face-Verification System for Mobile Payments

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By Anita Li2013-08-22 05:05:24 UTC

While we're not quite scanning retinas à la Mission Impossible and Minority Report , PayPal is now testing face verification for mobile-payment transactions.

The ecommerce company's app has a tab labeled "Local," which helps users find nearby stores and restaurants that accept mobile PayPal payments. Once customers check in to a venue online, their name and photo appears on the store's PayPal app. Shoppers can then use the app to pay for items (cashiers complete the transaction by clicking on their profile pic).

"We're pleased to help local businesses of all sizes offer a new more personal experience, while never having to turn away customers who don't have enough cash on them to pay," Rob Harper, head of retail services at PayPal, said in a release.

Select businesses in London began testing out the face-verification feature earlier this month.

What do you think of making payments with your photo? Would you find it useful? Tell us in the comments, below.

Image: paypaluk via YouTube

Topics: Apps and Software, facial recognition, Mobile, mobile payments, paypal, Tech