Paying with your eyes – but at what cost? Experts warn of privacy risks in new biometric tech

SINGAPORE: By putting on a pair of augmented reality (AR) smart glasses, you could soon pay for your next meal without reaching for your credit card, cash or mobile phone.

In a global first, Singapore-based digital payment provider Ant International has added iris authentication and voice recognition software to its Alipay+ GlassPay glasses. 

The device uses more than 260 biometric points to verify someone’s identity. Advanced liveness detection technology also ensures a person’s eyes are real.

Users can simply link their AliPay wallet to the glasses, register their iris, put on the glasses and look at a QR code before saying “yes” to make a payment.

"When you grow up, your face may change ... but the iris will never change,” said Mr Jiang-Ming Yang, chief innovation officer at Ant International, which developed the glasses with manufacturers Xiaomi and Meizu.

“People may look similar to each other (and their voices) may sound similar, but the iris texture is very diverse between different people. I think all those things combined make iris (recognition) actually very safe,” he added.

Mr Yang was speaking to CNA at the 2025 Singapore Fintech Festival held earlier this month, where the iris authentication features were first unveiled.

He said the company believes AR payments can change how people interact in the future.

Such seamless payment methods have already been introduced at some places in Singapore. But some observers say there is a need to further strengthen regulations around such nascent technology.

PALM PAYMENT

At Sentosa’s Adventure Cove Waterpark, visitors can use Tencent’s Palm Pay platform to pay with just a wave of their palm.

Palm Pay relies on a user’s handprint, vein patterns and even blood flow to ensure accuracy. It can cut payment times by up to 80 per cent.

The Chinese tech giant entered a partnership last year with Visa to introduce its palm recognition technology for digital payments globally, including in Singapore.

The tech was piloted at Sentosa as it allowed visitors, who generally store their belongings in lockers before going around the water park, to pay without having to get their wallet or mobile phone.

“With palm technology, you don't need that, because you are still enjoying yourself in the pool. You come up from the water and then you use your palm over to get the things you need,” said Mr Etienne Ng, Singapore country manager and Southeast Asia regional director of Tencent’s Wenxin Pay.

He noted that the system has since gained traction through feedback gathered from partners and users. 

After successful trials, the Palm Pay system has been deployed in the Singapore Institute of Technology where students can use it to buy food at canteens.

Mr Ng said Tencent is preparing to roll it out to local bank partners as well, including DBS, OCBC and UOB.

“(This is) why the pilot is important, because it allowed us to iron out all the possible operational issues. Because it's (not just) new to the bank, it's new to the merchant front line,” he noted.

SECURITY CONCERNS

But using such convenient tech could come at the cost of security, experts say.

Artificial intelligence and deepfake technology could be used to create fake versions of palms, cybersecurity observers previously told CNA. Liveness detection is one way to detect if identities are spoofed or impersonated.

Mr Mohit Mehrotra, financial services industry leader at Deloitte Southeast Asia, said scam and identity issues will naturally arise when new and exponential tech is implemented.

“But given how our system works together with their files, merchants, consumers, regulatory narrative, data protection acts, our national identity ecosystem – it just puts in place a good foundation for us to progressively tackle issues that come along,” he added.

Such tech should be able to work with other payment systems that are already available, which could lead to a smoother and smarter payment experience in tandem with the right safeguards, said Mr Mohit.

In terms of whether the use of biometric data is a concern, he said this cannot stop the world from progressing and modernising.

“We just need to make sure we strengthen our defences, whether through a regulatory narrative (or) through the use of technology to make it better,” he noted.