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Richmond supermarket might introduce facial-recognition payment method

A Chinese grocery store chain is looking to introduce facial-recognition as a method of payment to their Canadian stores.

 Foody World in Richmond is two of eight of the chain's locations in Canada that may adopt facial-recognition as a new method of payment. File photoFoody World in Richmond is two of eight of the chain’s locations in Canada that may adopt facial-recognition as a new method of payment. File photo

People who forget their wallet when they go grocery shopping might be able to pay with their face next year.

A Chinese grocery store chain is looking to introduce facial-recognition as a method of payment to their Canadian stores.

Wei Chengyi, owner of Foody Mart, is considering introducing Chinese-made facial recognition devices as a new form of payment at their stores in Ontario and B.C., according to the National Post.

Foody Mart has six locations in the Toronto area and two, under the name Foody World, in Richmond, B.C.

The new system would allow customers to make purchases by capturing an image of shoppers’ faces and linking it to their chain store account, without the use of a card, cash or phone.

According to Yahoo Finance, the chain store plans to purchase facial recognition equipment from SnapPay, a Toronto-based platform which also supplies payment gear to Canadian retailers who accept international payment methods like AliPay and WeChat Pay.

“Facial recognition technology is an increasingly popular method of payment among global consumers,” said Spencer Xu, CEO and founder of SnapPay, in a press release.

He added that it will speed up and provide convenience during the checkout process at stores.

Mary Markou, senior director of Retail Council of Canada, said retail stores in Canada are “eager to explore technologies that will help improve the experience for their customers.”

“SnapPay is a very interesting new player offering solutions in the Canadian payments ecosystem.”

SnapPay told Yahoo Finance they aim to release the first payment system to Foody Mart in the beginning of next year.