The payment through facial recognition is a reality and a success in countries like China, where up to a third of purchases are made using this technology.
In Brazil, facial biometrics is already present in airports and some applications, but it still has a long way to go in physical commerce.
With a focus on this opportunity, Payface, the Santa Catarina-based startup leader in payments with facial biometrics in Brazil, has closed the acquisition of its competitor, SmileGo.
SmileGo specializes in biometric payments with white-label cards marketed by retail chains.
It was part of Vsoft and RPE, which process cards for 60 retailers with 7 million customers. Victor Braz, former CEO of SmileGo, takes over the Closed Deals department of Payface.
In the last three years, Payface has created a network of 1,500 point-of-sale locations to enable facial biometric payments in physical retail (serving, for example, the São Paulo-based chain St. Marche, in partnership with Mastercard.
SmileGo, on the other hand, has 40 retail customers in registration origination and was preparing to offer facial biometrics for payments.
With the merger of the two companies, the ambition is to boost the offering of facial recognition payments in major cities and markets throughout the country.
“Both businesses have a lot of synergy. The goal is to end 2024 with 1.5 million active customers per month,” says Eládio Isoppo, CEO and co-founder of Payface, along with Ricardo Fritsche.
According to Isoppo, payments through facial recognition on retail cards are especially promising because they are only sometimes in customers’ wallets. Biometrics will increase security and tend to boost sales.
This merger also helps startups protect themselves from new competitors in a market that will naturally grow in the coming years. Isoppo highlights ecosystem integration as the primary competitive differentiator.
The company, which received investments from BTG Pactual (the same group that controls EXAME), HiPartners, and Oasis Ventures, plans to offer biometric solutions to partners of different brands and industries, from retail to the financial system.
“Our mission is to be agnostic in payment methods and connect our infrastructure to major issuers,” explains the executive.
Among the new services planned are facial biometric solutions in applications and also through machines to expand possibilities in physical commerce.
Given that global competitors tend to gain ground in Brazil, the company plans to internationalize, starting with Latin American countries.
A new round of investments is on Payface’s radar for 2024, as well as recent acquisitions.
