PeasyPay, a startup incorporated in Hungary, is seeking to boost payment efficiency with the use of biometrics.
The firm looks to eradicate the need for a wallet, smartphone or credit card, with European customers being able to enter a shop, choose what they want and pay by simply showing their faces and taking a picture of the palm of their hands, making the whole process faster and more convenient.
PeasyPay was launched by EIT Digital within its Innovation Factory, where a number of EIT Digital Partners come together to launch a deep tech venture into the market.
PeasyPay’s product leader Csaba Körmöczi emphasised: “The system is composed of three elements. A smartphone app for the customer (used only during registration), a smartphone app for the merchants, and the payment terminal.”
The project’s codename is “Pay with a Smile” and it is within the Digital Finance portfolio of the EIT Digital Innovation Factory. The partnership behind the initiative includes two Spanish partners, Ci3 and Liberbank, two Hungarian ones, E-Group and OTP Bank, and Slovenia’s AV Living Lab.
A pilot use case of PeasyPay, targeting the city’s food, retail and hospitality industry, is currently ongoing in Guadalajara, Spain. The trial started in July, in four small shops located in the city centre, and is being extended to other businesses. In total, 25 proximity shops (bakeries, butcher’s shops, grocery stores, cafés, bookstores, print shops, and herbal shops) will be participating in the Spanish pilot. The plan is to make the PeasyPay solution available in department stores as well.
More pilots are planned elsewhere. In the UK, the system is being set up to let taxi drivers seamlessly pay the fee to enter Glasgow Airport’s parking area. In Slovenia, the pilot will take place in a restaurant.
