Travellers want to try facial recognition technology to pay

Public transport users say they are willing to ditch using access cards to and instead rely on their face to pay their fare.

Commuters are willing to use facial recognition technology that charge them each time they get on and off their mode of transport.

The technology has already become part of everyday life in China — in some cities it is used to verify commuters’ identities through camera technology installed at train stations.

Visa’s and Stanford University’s new Future of Transportation: Mobility in the age of the Megacity report, quizzed more than 20,000 people in 19 countries including Australia and found 54 per cent of Australians would be willing to try facial recognition or bluetooth technology when commuting.

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Visa’s head of product for Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific Axel Boye-Moller said while this type of technology is yet to be used by Australian commuters this could change.

“We have rolled it (biometric) out through tap and pay and using your mobile, biometrical authentication is an important part of that customer experience,” he said.

“There’s a lot of work going on including some providers that are looking at biometric authentication in a transit environment.”

Mr Boye-Moller said this would allow commuters to do away with using a transport or bank card to pay for their commute.

You may have forgotten your card, but did you put on your face? Facial recognition could be used track your transport bill. Picture Jenny Evans

Instead customers could rely on facial recognition to pay by linking it up to an app that contains their bank information.

Transport NSW has already gone live on ferries, light rail and trains allowing customers to tap and pay with their bank card and/or compatible smartphone or smartwatch when they get on and off transport.

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And in Melbourne similar technology is still in the trial phase for commuters using trains, buses and trams.

University of Wollongong professor Katina Michael, an expert in biometrics, said commuters would be open to using biometrics to pay because “they think they are being monitored anyway”.

“We’ve got cameras everywhere and if they are going to be adopted to connect with people’s facial images then people will become complacent,” she said.

“They think they don’t have privacy anyway so it will help them get on and off public transport.”

The report also showed Australians’ reliance on using their own vehicle is the highest in the world — 72 per cent use this mode of transport to get to and from work each day.

It also showed 64 per cent would be willing to pay with a debit or credit card for all modes of public transport.

@sophieelsworth