"Face Recognition Without Removing Mask"… Shinhan Card Advances 'Shinhan FacePay'

Upgrade of Facial Recognition Solution
Employee ID Replacement Enables Office Access

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] 'Shinhan FacePay,' the first facial recognition payment service in Korea, has become capable of recognizing faces even while wearing a mask.

Shinhan Card announced on the 1st that it will conduct a pilot operation of the upgraded Shinhan FacePay at its headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. Shinhan Card upgraded the solution to precisely identify the characteristic points of the upper part of the face exposed while wearing a mask. This is to reduce the inconvenience of using Shinhan FacePay during the COVID-19 situation.

This service allows users to conveniently use Shinhan FacePay while wearing a mask after registering their face once without a mask at the Shinhan FacePay unmanned registration machine. Shinhan Card will pilot this service for its employees at the cafeteria inside the headquarters building.

Additionally, Shinhan Card expanded the facial recognition authentication technology of Shinhan FacePay to function as an employee ID for Shinhan Card staff. Once employee information such as employee number is registered at the unmanned registration machine, employees can conveniently access the headquarters and offices using Shinhan FacePay without carrying a physical ID card. Notably, the facial recognition process also measures body temperature, which is expected to be highly effective for COVID-19 prevention.

Selected as an innovative financial service by the Financial Services Commission in 2019, Shinhan FacePay was first commercialized last year at Hanyang University, and later introduced a hybrid store at CU Hanyang University Dormitory where entry and payment are possible solely through facial recognition. This year, Shinhan FacePay was launched at Homeplus World Cup Branch, expanding facial recognition payment services to large retail stores.

Yoo Tae-hyun, Head of Digital First Division at Shinhan Card, said, "The upgrade of Shinhan FacePay, which is leading the domestic bio-payment market, is significant as it is the first to apply facial authentication for entry and payment while wearing a mask."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.