When Apple connected its Touch ID sensors to the Apple Pay feature on the iPhone 6, the company opened the world up to a new way of paying for products using a part of their biological signature. But what if you could use your face as a credit card?
This is the idea behind Chinese tech developer Alibaba Group Holding's newest invention, a facial scanner that people can use to validate their mobile payment service Alipay account. Alibaba founder Jack Ma showed off the scanner during his appearance at the CeBit tech exhibition on Monday. At the end of his talk exploring where the company is going developmentally, Ma pulled a Steve-Jobs-esque "one more thing" and introduced the audience to what he calls "Smile To Pay".
"[Using] online payments to buy things is always a big headache," Ma explained. "You forget your password, you worry about security. Today we'll show you a new technology, how in the future people will buy things online."
Ma then demonstrated the feature by buying a stamp from the 1948 Hanover trade fair. Instead of inputting credit card information in front of thousands of viewers, he matched his face with a white outline and took a selfie. That information was transferred to the Alipay server and verified. A few seconds later, the purchase was approved. Ma then noted that this new facial scanner would be available in China in the near future, though he did not specify when exactly.
The entrepreneur was not available for an interview or follow-up questions, and Alibaba representatives did not respond to requests for comments. While the idea of "Smile to Pay" may seem like a gimmick to some, Sources inside Alibaba told Re/Code that they are fairly serious about using it.
Alipay, the Chinese alternative to PayPal, is accepted by vendors like H&M, Gilt and Airbnb.
