JP Morgan is collaborating with vendor PopID to trial facial recognition biometric payments with merchants across the United States.
According to Goode Intelligence, global biometric payments are projected to reach $5.8 trillion and three billion users by 2026. Last year, JP Morgan indicated its aim to introduce this technology to its vast merchant client base by partnering with biometrics specialist PopID for a series of pilot programs. The current trials will eliminate the need for shoppers to use their phones or credit cards during transactions.
Research from PopID indicates that their platform can reduce order and checkout times by up to 90 seconds per transaction and potentially increase ticket sizes by four percent. Earlier this year, Prashant Sharma, JP Morgan’s executive director of biometrics and identity solutions, expressed the bank’s commitment to biometrics, stating, “We would like every merchant to adopt this, but at the end of the day, it is going to be a merchant’s choice.” He acknowledged the perceived sensitivity regarding biometric data but emphasized that the bank does not view it as a significant risk.
Regarding the ongoing pilots, Jean-Marc Thienpont, managing director of omnichannel and biometric solutions at JP Morgan Payments, commented, “This is a giant step forward in helping our clients reimagine the entire retail experience for their customers and bringing best-in-class biometric payment solutions to the market. We offer something that is hard to match – the stability, scale, and trust of a world-class bank combined with the technology and agility of a fintech.”