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Pay "With a Smile" with Facial Recognition App by Alibaba

Waiting in line just to pay your bills? Or have you experienced a huge hassle just to pay for something? Worry not, Alibaba just launched their newest craze on paying system!

Alibaba redefined the term “Happy Meal” as they will allow customers to pay for their meal with a “smile” 😉

Alibaba Group Holding Limited is a Chinese e-commerce company that provides consumer-to-consumer, business-to-consumer and business-to-business sales services via web portals. It also provides electronic payment services, a shopping search engine and data-centric cloud computing services. The group began in 1999 when Jack Ma founded the website Alibaba.com, a business-to-business portal to connect Chinese manufacturers with overseas buyers. In 2012, two of Alibaba's portals handled 1.1 trillion yuan ($170 billion) in sales. Suppliers from other countries are supported (with more stringent checks than for Chinese companies), but the company primarily operates in the People's Republic of China (PRC). At closing time on the date of its initial public offering (IPO), 19 September 2014, Alibaba's market value was US$231 billion. However, the stock has traded down and market cap was about $212 billion at the end of December 2015.

It is the world's largest retailer as of April 2016 surpassing Walmart, with operations in over 200 countries, as well as one of the largest Internet companies. Its online sales and profits surpassed all US retailers (including Walmart, Amazon and eBay) combined since 2015. It has been expanding into media and entertainment industry, with revenues rising 3-digit percents year on year.

As of August 2017, Alibaba has over 529 million monthly active mobile users across its platforms.



Alibaba's Ant Financial has teamed up with KFC in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou to debut its news "smile to pay" service.

Simply by smiling after placing their order at one of the fast food restaurant's self-serve screens, the service allows customers to process their payment.

To verify the customer’s identity, a 3-D camera scans the customer's face. For added security, an additional phone number verification option is available.

The technology is available to customers registered to the Alipay app – the mobile and online payment platform established in Hangzhou by Alibaba's founder Jack Ma.


KFC was targeted for the debut as it is a subsidiary of Yum China, one of Alibaba's major investments.

The launch sits in line with Yum China's plans to attract a younger generation of customers.

Joey Wat, Yum China's president, said the store was aimed at "young, tech savvy consumers who are keen to embrace new tastes and innovations," according to Reuters.


Soon, Alibaba will conquer all our paying systems with their Facial Recognition App. That would be of great convenience for all of us.

Cheerio!

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