The Chinese tech giant Alibaba has launched an experimental “smile to pay” payments option in KFC restaurants in China. With “smile to pay”, users can pay for their meal simply by having their face scanned by a special 3D camera at the point of payment. The system does not require the user to use their smartphone, although they must have previously downloaded the Alipay app and enabled facial recognition. Alipay is one of the most popular mobile payment apps in China. Alibaba hopes that the ease-of-use of the new payment option will encourage more people to download and use the Alipay app. The company has previously said that it sees the future of commerce as being a more integrated online and offline experience.
