JPMorgan will let consumers pay with their face or palm instead of a card

The bank, home to one of the world’s biggest payment-processing businesses, plans to roll out the service to its broader base of US merchant clients if the pilot program goes well, according to a statement Thursday. The pilot may include a Formula 1 race in Miami as well as some brick-and-mortar stores. 

“The evolution of consumer technology has created new expectations for shoppers,” Jean-Marc Thienpont, head of omnichannel solutions for JPMorgan’s payments business, said in the statement. “Merchants need to be ready to adapt to these new expectations.”

JPMorgan is seizing on the rising popularity of biometrics technology, which uses unique body measurements to authenticate a person’s identity. The technology is expected to account for roughly $5.8 trillion in transactions and 3 billion users by 2026, JPMorgan said, citing Goode Intelligence.

Here’s how it works: Customers enroll their palm or face through an in-store process. Then, at checkout, they scan their biometric to complete the transaction and get a receipt. 

The new offering is from JPMorgan’s sprawling payments business, which competes with the likes of Fidelity National Information Services Inc. and Fiserv Inc. to offer payment-processing technology to e-commerce sites and retailers around the world. The technology isn’t just for JPMorgan cardholders. Consumers will be able to link many different forms of payment to JPMorgan’s new system.

“Being able to roll out this new biometrics-based payments scheme would enhance the race-day experience for our guests, as they will enjoy a new, faster checkout process,” Ramon Peneda, chief information officer for the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix this year, said in the statement.