Shinhan Card upgrades 'Face Pay' at CU convenience store

A Shinhan Card customer uses Face Pay to buy goods at a CU convenience store at Hanyang University in Seoul. / Courtesy of Shinhan Card

By Kim Bo-eun

Shinhan Card said Friday it has upgraded its "Face Pay" system ― based on facial recognition ― that operates at a CU convenience store in Seoul.

BGF retail's CU convenience store on Hanyang University's campus in eastern Seoul began accepting Face Pay payments in April. The system has been upgraded so that customers can be tracked as soon as they enter the store.

This allows the store to operate at night without an employee because the system enables facial recognition when customers enter and when payments are made.

Shinhan is the first local card firm to develop such a payment system.

Customers can use it after registering their card and facial data with Shinhan Bank and the CU convenience store.

Once registered, customers can make purchases without having to carry plastic cards or smartphone applications.

The Financial Services Commission earlier recognized Shinhan Card's Face Pay as an "innovative financial service."

Shinhan plans to increase the number of stores where the system can be used.

"The stores will likely be those located within school campuses or within companies, given users need to register first to be able to use the system," a Shinhan Card official said. The card firm is likely to continue working with CU.

"The hybrid CU store that applies Face Pay goes a step further from facial recognition-based pay to offer an integrated digital model that manages security as well as payment," Shinhan Card's head of digital strategy Yoo Tae-hyun said.

BGF Retail's head of innovative services Song Ji-taek said: "CU, which has the largest number of hybrid stores among convenience stores, will continue to look into new technology that can be commercialized, such as Shinhan's Face Pay, to provide new purchase experiences for customers."

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