Lekker local authentication system not biased on skin colour

Locally refined technology has created a world first innovative outcome. For the first time biometrics has been refined into a more inclusive technology with facial recognition no longer biased towards Caucasian skin tones.

The technology is now being exported by the South African arm of biometric payment platform Pay By Face, a business intent on making secure transacting affordable and as secure as humanly possible.

Managing director of Pay By Face Africa Michelle Rachman said that the company invested significantly in molding technology to ensure inclusiveness and security.

She said: “While facial biometrics are nothing new, but what is new is the high accuracy in terms of ethnic skin tone that we have managed to achieve within our software architecture.

“We have some very uniquely African challenges. And one of that was how do we ensure that we use facial biometrics without any sort of discrimination and improved accuracy where any potential users are able to use the Lekker local authentication system not biased on skin colour technology effectively. And that’s where all the focus has been.”

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Rachman added that the enhanced technology also holds significant potential to further make banking previously unbanked people on the continent more accessible.

She noted: “Presently to open a bank account or to transact financially, fixed addresses and a whole lot of paperwork is required and a lot of people still do not have fixed abodes or identification documentation, whether lost or never issued.”

Mobile and biometric technology can take care of this challenge. Rachman said that facial recognition can then serve as a means of positive identification and, location services, for example, can be used to establish location that can be used as proof of residence.

The potential for the technology to improve lives while also adding a dense level of security to transacting is significant. According to Rachman, the biometric technology is hardware agnostic and merchants no longer require wallet-heavy equipment as in the past.

And it is not a payment gateway, Rachman pointed out: “We are a authentication layer that can be used to secure any payment or transaction.

“It doesn’t matter what that transaction is. The idea is you would be able to walk into a mall
wallet free, with all your loyalty programmes and cards integrated into Pay By Face.

“This means that when you go to a store and make a purchase, you no longer have to present a payment and a loyalty card. It can all be done seamlessly in one transaction and also ensures security.”

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