"Pay with Your Face Without a Wallet at Incheon Airport"

Incheon Airport Corporation Signs Business Agreement with Shinhan Card to Introduce Facial Recognition Payment System
Pilot Implementation at Incheon Airport Convenience Stores in First Half, Followed by Gradual Expansion to Other Stores

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Incheon International Airport Corporation announced on the 28th that it signed a business agreement with Shinhan Card on the 25th at the corporation's conference room to pilot the facial recognition payment system 'FacePay' at Incheon Airport's food and beverage stores.

The signing ceremony was held in compliance with COVID-19 quarantine rules, attended by Ryu Jin-hyung, Head of Operations at Incheon Airport Corporation, Yoo Tae-hyun, Head of Digital First Division at Shinhan Card, and officials from both companies.

FacePay is a service that links users' biometric (facial) information with credit card payment information, allowing payment through facial recognition alone at affiliated merchants. It was first commercialized domestically last year at a convenience store in Hanyang University. Based on this agreement, the corporation plans to prioritize the pilot introduction of the 'FacePay payment system' in convenience stores, where quick payment is required during airport congestion, in collaboration with Shinhan Card.

The system will be introduced and piloted at some convenience stores in Incheon Airport by the first half of this year. Depending on the operational results, the number of stores adopting the system will be gradually expanded.

The corporation is actively introducing the 'untact trend' such as non-face-to-face and contactless services, which have gained popularity due to COVID-19, into airport food and beverage operations. This aims to enhance passenger convenience and alleviate store congestion, preparing for the full recovery of passenger demand in the post-COVID-19 era.

In May last year, the corporation officially launched the 'Smart Order Service,' which allows non-face-to-face ordering before arriving at the airport or at store tables, and has been operating it since then.

Yoo Tae-hyun, Head of Digital First Division at Shinhan Card, said, "We are pleased to introduce the Shinhan FacePay payment system at Incheon Airport, the gateway to Korea, and will continue to cooperate with Incheon Airport to showcase various payment fintech business models at the airport."

Ryu Jin-hyung, Head of Operations at Incheon Airport Corporation, said, "As passenger demand is expected to recover fully due to government exemptions from quarantine for overseas arrivals, we will continue to actively introduce new services that meet changing trends to provide passengers with more convenient and safe airport services."

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