J.P. Morgan Plans More Biometric Payments Pilots with PopID

J.P. Morgan Payments has announced an expansion of its collaborative partnership with biometric payments specialist PopID, signalling the financial giant’s growing interest in letting consumers authorize purchases with a face scan.

J.P. Morgan first started piloting palm- and face-based payments in early 2023, eyeing the advantages of letting customers perform transactions without needing to have their wallet handy. PopID was revealed to be a technology partner earlier this year, as pilots got underway with the likes of Sephora, the beauty product retailer.

In March of this year, Prashant Sharma, J.P. Morgan’s Executive Director of Biometrics and Identity Solutions, revealed plans for a broad launch of a biometric checkout service, anticipated to happen by early 2025.

Presumably, the firm’s expanded partnership with PopID is a step in that direction, though the companies have not offered a detailed plan concerning what exactly this expansion will entail. In a statement, they said they will “deploy in-store biometric payments to pilot merchants across the United States.” They also highlighted the involvement of Whataburger, which already accepts biometric payments via PopID’s platform, but now “plans to extend biometric payments with payments processing powered by J.P. Morgan Payments.”

The firms noted that once a customer has enrolled in the PopID system, they can use their face to make purchases with any participating retailer. For merchants, they say, checkout times can be reduced by up to 90 seconds per transaction, and can increase ticket size by four percent.

“This is a giant step forward in helping our clients reimagine the entire retail experience for their customers and bringing best-in-class biometrics payments solutions to the market,” commented Jean-Marc Thienpont, Managing Director of Omnichannel & Biometric Solutions at J.P. Morgan Payments. “We offer something that is hard to match – the stability, scale and trust of a world-class bank combined with the technology and agility of a fintech.”

PopID was founded in Pasadena, California, in 2016. John Miller, the founder, envisioned a future in which transactions could be conducted swiftly and securely using facial recognition. The company began by introducing its technology in local businesses, allowing customers to link their faces to their payment methods and complete transactions without needing physical cards or cash. This proved especially appealing after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the local chain CaliBurger looking to PopID tech to maintain sanitary, contactless restaurant environments.

J.P. Morgan isn’t the only financial giant that is interested in PopID’s technology. In 2022, Visa worked with the startup to trial a biometric payments system at Géant grocery stores and certain other retailers in the Middle East.

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August 6, 2024 – by Alex Perala