Federal Bank Launches India’s First Facial Payment System

Private sector lender Federal Bank has launched SmilePay™ that allows customers to complete transactions using facial recognition technology.

Launched by Federal Bank’s executive director Shalini Warrier at the Global Fintech Fest, the facial recognition-based payment system is the first-of-its-kind in the country.

Currently, SmilePay™ is being piloted in collaboration with Reliance Retail and Svatantra Micro Housing at select branches and outlets. The technology is being built on the UIDAI’s face authentication service, ensuring secure transactions.

It eliminates the need for cash, cards or even mobile devices, offering greater convenience for customers and efficiency for merchants.

SmilePay’s™ key features include robust security, user-friendly interface, and the ability to manage transactions efficiently. Initially, the service will be available only to Federal Bank customers, with plans for future expansion and strategic partnerships to increase its reach.

“The concept of moving from cash to cards to QR codes to wearables, and now just a smile to pay, is an exciting Customer Experience in the making,”  Federal Bank’s  CDO Indraneel Pandit said.

This comes on the back of NPCI reportedly in discussions with startups to introduce biometric authentication for UPI payments.

In January, it was also reported that the government has allowed banks to use facial recognition technology to verify individual transactions that exceed a certain annual limit in a bid to reduce fraud and tax evasion.

This comes at the heart of the Federal Bank expanding its offerings in recent times. For instance, last year in October Federal Bank launched UPI for NRIs feature on its mobile banking application FedMobile. 

This plan was approved by NPCI for NRIs from countries including Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Qatar, the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the UK. 

Federal Bank is an Indian private sector bank with a network of around 1508 banking outlets and 2013 ATMs/Recyclers spread across the country and the Bank’s total business mix (deposits + advances) stood at INR  4.62 Lakh Crore as of 31st March 2024. 

It has representative offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi that serve as a nerve centre for Non-Resident Indian customers in the UAE. The Bank also has an IFSC Banking Unit (IBU) in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City).