Wirecard, the international leaders of innovation in the field of digital financial technology, is launching its new IoT shelf. The showcase combines IoT technologies with biometric facial recognition, thereby granting insights into a seamless purchase and payment experience supported purely by biometric data.
Jörn Leogrande, Executive Vice President Wirecard Labs, said: “The rapid pace of technological progress in the field of IoT reveals that the coming years will bring huge digital transformation to the retail world. At Wirecard, our intention is to actively shape the future of retail by constantly developing innovative financial technologies. In our vision, biometric payment concepts will play a central role in the retail of tomorrow.”
The new solution is set to redefine the traditional customer journey in digital terms: in order to make a purchase and place products into their shopping bag, shoppers simply need to position themselves in front of the shelf, identify themselves via the biometric facial recognition system and choose their products – and the shelf will automatically detect which products have been selected. The changes to the virtual shopping bag as well as the payment process are shown in real time on screen above the IoT shelf.
The positive attitude of European consumers towards biometric payment methods is quite remarkable: In 2016, around 53% of the 14,000 consumers surveyed said that they see fingerprint scanning as the most secure option and would prefer to pay via this method. A further 29% claimed that a combination of traditional PIN and some new biometric elements would be the most secure and quickest payment option for the future.
Wirecard’s IoT solution is suitable for use in many different retail sectors and offers consumers seamless digital shopping experiences via biometric payment technologies, a feature which will become ever more prominent in retail in the near future.
