• Revolut reveals new payment method which just needs a smile
• Facial recognition technology will help identify Revolut customers
• Technology could help protect SMBs from losses caused by tech outages

If you've ever been about to pay for something in a shop and suddenly realised you've misplaced your wallet, Revolut may have the answer to help avoid any more embarrassing situations.

The payments giant is launching Revolut Pay with Smile, the UK’s first in-store facial recognition checkout, meaning customers can pay with a glance or even a smile - no need for a wallet or even a phone.

The move looks to make sure that UK small businesses don't lose money from payment terminal issues, whether hardware or software-related, offering a new way to accept payments.

Pay with Smile

We were invited along to try out the new Revolut Pay with Smile at a Kiss the Hippo Coffee shop in central London, where customers could try out the new technology.

Guests who paid in-store with a smile were able to order from a special Revolut menu, with speciality coffees at £1 - a bargain in today's market.

We gave it a go, and found the process to be pretty painless - much like authenticating yourself on a phone app, or having your photo taken at passport control, it was fairly quick and smooth to get through - and the coffee wasn't bad either.

All it took was a quick facial scan, and the system verified the payment in a matter of seconds - quicker than many contactless payments, we'd say.

Users will have to be existing Revolut customers, as the system uses advanced facial technology to verify the user's identity against the selfie ID checks they added when first signing up to Revolut to authenticate and process a payment securely.

Powered by the new Revolut Register, a modular, two-screen register designed to bring together payments, banking, and floor operations, Pay with Smile offers 0% processing fees for merchants, a huge boost when overhead costs are higher than ever.

Transactions are authenticated with end-to-end encryption managed inside the Revolut app, with no personal data stored by merchants

Revolut Register is available now with a special 50% discount for £349.50 + VAT (RRP: £699 + VAT) on a merchant's first terminal until 31st December 2026 for both new and existing customers.