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Finnish payment startup allows shoppers to pay with their face

July 22, 2013

A Finnish startup has created an alternative payment method that it says could do away with wallets — in both the physical and digital form.

According to an article on ibitimes.co.uk, Helsinki-based Uniqul uses "military-grade" facial recognition algorithms to identify shoppers at the point of purchase. Once the shopper is positively identified against a database of photographs, the system processes the payment and the shopper's only action is to press 'ok' on a screen to confirm the transaction.

Uniqul CEO Ruslan Pisarenko said in the article that his system is more secure than traditional payment methods.

"I think the core thing about safety is that fundamentally, biometrics is a much more secure way to identify a person than giving him a card or a phone [with NFC for contactless payment]," he said. "Uniqul is able to verify that it is you who have been there and made a purchase. As an additional level of security, some of the customers will be offered to enter [a] PIN-code, but as Uniqul identification happens while your barcodes are being scanned, this will not increase time that you are spending on checkout."

Pisarenko added that the company's primary goal is to form a strong presence in Scandinavia within several months before going for an international presence.

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