Android Pay makes it very easy to load up your loyalty cards and make use of them on the go but it appears that Google is thinking of an experimental feature to make the process easier and faster. The latest version of the Android Pay app has revealed that Google is working on a feature called Visual ID which will allow users to authenticate loyalty points based on facial recognition.
This has been discovered by the folks over at 9to5Google who dug deep into the latest version of Android Pay and found references in the code to this feature. The strings have revealed that users will first create a face template when they activate the feature.
Participating retailers will have Visual ID cameras installed that will perform facial recognition when the customer walks in. The system will then determine the customer’s identity, find out their location in the store using Bluetooth and will then send loyalty details to the retailer.
The lines of code also mention that Visual ID cameras will automatically delete all photos shortly after they’re taken and that they won’t be accessible by the store. This is going to put those concerned about privacy at ease.
Google work’s on this feature appears to be in preliminary stages right now so it can’t be said for sure how long it’s going to take before Visual ID goes live for Android Pay users.
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