Face Pay emerges as rising strategy among convenience stores

Top 3 franchise firms partner with Toss

By Ko Dong-hwan

Major convenience store franchise companies in Korea have started testing a new Face Pay service, with plans for rollout as early as next month.

The service, which enables consumers to make payments simply by showing their face to a camera, is targeted at individuals in their teens to 30s, who are key consumer groups for Korea's convenience store industry. The country's top three convenience store firms believe that the service will improve accessibility by eliminating the need for customers to use their hands when making payments.

BGF Retail, which operates the convenience store brand CU, began testing Face Pay on Wednesday at a CU branch near its office in Seoul’s Gangnam District before launching the service next month. Its employees are currently participating in the test run, using the new payment function when making a purchase at the store.

The company will first introduce the service at 30 CU locations in the district.

BGF Retail partnered with Viva Republica, a Korean firm operating the online payment service Toss, to introduce the feature.

Customers who register their faces and payment information to Toss’ smartphone app or online database can use the service. CU stores that provide Face Pay will install a dedicated camera to which users can show their faces.

BGF Retail said the service had a 99.99 percent level of accuracy and could identify and make payments all within a second. All facial data is encrypted with passwords and is separately managed by Toss. The service also has liveness detection technology, which can discern fake facial data reproduced via photos or video clips.

“Our fast and accurate Toss Face Pay will likely usher in a new innovative service by boosting our customers’ convenience," Park Jong-seong, BGF Retail’s chief of CX team, said.

GS Retail, which operates GS25, began testing the Face Pay service — also serviced by Toss — last week. GS employees are also participating in the test run, which is now available at two GS25 stores in Gangnam District. The company will launch the service next month in 30 GS25 stores directly managed by the company.

“We plan to first introduce the service at many of our stores close to sports stadiums because customers there often carry things with both hands, making it difficult to use their hands to make a payment,” a GS Retail official said.

Korea Seven, which operates 7-Eleven, said last week it would also launch the Toss Face Pay service at 7-Eleven stores in Seoul within the first half of this year and later extend the service nationwide.