Cali Group, a pioneer in developing innovative technologies for the restaurant and retail industries, announced the launch of a face-based payment pilot program at CaliBurger, its restaurant operating subsidiary, in Pasadena, California where the quick-service chain showcases new technologies developed by its parent company. The program, which will be available to the public on Tuesday, January 30th, enables the customer to pay with a glance at the camera without ever needing to swipe a credit card.

In late 2017, Cali Group launched face based loyalty login on its large format self-ordering kiosks. Customers login to their loyalty accounts at the self-ordering kiosks without needing to type in any identifying information. Now, in addition to accessing their loyalty account by looking at the camera on the kiosk, customers can also complete the transaction by looking at the camera.   

“The positive customer reaction to face based loyalty login at the kiosks encouraged us to quickly deploy face based payments at the kiosks,” says John Miller, CEO of Cali Group. “To our knowledge, this is the first time in America that customers in a retail environment can pay without needing a physical or digital wallet.”

Privacy and security are a top priority for Cali Group. Cali Group’s face based system requires a two-step authentication process. In addition to smiling at the camera, the customer will also need to enter a 3-digit CVV number from their credit card to process the transaction. Longer run, after demonstrating that face based authentication of payments is significantly more secure than swiping credit cards, Cali Group plans to eliminate the entry of the CVV number and only require a smile to authenticate the transaction.  

“NEC is a leading innovator in delivering retail technologies and solutions from the point of sale to the back office and beyond,” says Matt Worley, Vice President of NEC Retail Solutions. “Cali Group’s face payment technology powered by NEC can be used to reinvent the customer experience and reduce transaction costs for merchants.”

Face based payment is a component of Cali Group’s unified C-Vision platform, which ties together software products developed by Cali Group’s affiliated companies to enable the entire restaurant to be controlled from one operating system run on a tablet. If customers are pleased with the new ordering and payment experience, the face-based payment feature will be rolled out to CaliBurger’s global locations.