Fake heads will NOT be able to “pay with a smile”! That’s the Herman Gref GUARANTEE.
Sberbank CEO and Davos gospel thumper Herman Gref dreams of a happy Russia free from the shackles of cash and debit cards; a safe, convenient Russia where commerce is conducted with radiant smiles.
It’s a fantastic dream—who could imagine such a pleasantly convenient Russia? But (and just hear me out here) … could Gref’s dream one day become reality?
It already is. Slowly. Convenience-proponents might say too slowly. Yes, unfortunately, there are still many convenience-haters in Russia who have demonstrated suboptimal levels of enthusiasm for the biometric paradise that awaits them.
Sberbank calculated how many times and where Russians paid with a smile during 2024. Since the beginning of the year, the number of monthly transactions has increased 14 times: from almost 500 thousand in January 2024 to more than 6 million in December 2024 … Since the beginning of 2024, more than 2 million Russians have used the service.
Around 2 million bio-terminals are expected to be in service by the end of this year.
Sber also launched “interbank bioacquiring” (literally “биоэквайринг” in Russian) in December, which will allow “all Russian citizens who have reached the age of 18 to pay for purchases using biometrics, regardless of which bank they are clients of”:
You no longer need to carry cash, bank cards or a phone - the transaction can be completed in just a few seconds. Just select "Payment with a smile" on the terminal screen, look into the camera - the payment will be made instantly, no matter whether you are a client of Sberbank or use the services of another financial institution.
The inclusive nature of Pay with a Smile is a huge win for convenience and could help make biometrics the #1 payment method in Russia!
“The future belongs to technologies, they work for people and make their lives easier and more convenient. Bioacquiring is a very important step in this direction. If biometrics continues to develop at the same pace in the next few years, it can become the first choice payment method. Today, it is already the safest tool for non-cash payments. The service algorithms will not allow payment by photo, image on a smartphone or using a mask,” Sber executive Dmitry Sukhoverkhov told the media in December.
Pending approval from regulators, Sber also plans to turn Pay with a Smile into an ID system that will allow Russians 18-and-up to do adult things like buy cigs and booze:
(From March 1, anyone who wants to buy an energy drink in Russia will have to prove they are at least 18 years old. It is reasonable to assume that enforcement will be lax. But what other things might we assume when Russian state media triumphantly reports that citizens will be able to use biometrics to confirm their age when purchasing energy drinks? Strange times.)
While we’re on the subject of controlled substances, here’s a fun Pay with a Smile story involving vodka:
The head of the Information Technology Center of the Kaliningrad Institute for Education Development, Dmitry Kulagin, accidentally paid for a bottle of vodka for another customer with his face. The official reported this on his VKontakte page, but later deleted the post.
Kulagin said that while he was standing in line, a man in front of him tried to pay for a purchase [vodka]. The official simply smiled at the cashier at the time, but a moment later he saw a message on the terminal screen about the money being debited from his account.
As Kulagin himself explained, the terminal was configured to pay via facial biometrics. After short negotiations, the buyer returned the money for the paid goods to the official. In his publication, Kulagin joked: “It seems that the digitalization of business has acquired a malicious enemy in me.”
Kulagin later deleted the post and noted that the story attracted the attention of “unscrupulous journalists who decided to make more hype out of it.”
Say what you will about unscrupulous journalists but sometimes they craft headlines that would make Gogol grin:
But are Russians ready for so much safety and convenience?
A recent survey conducted by Komsomolskaya Pravda found that 64% of respondents will “never agree to trust their biometric data to banks”. 23% said they hadn’t decided yet if they would switch to biometric payments. 10% said they were ready to use a face-pay system, while 3% revealed they had already starting paying with their beautiful smiles.
Then there is the category of Russians who are forced to use cash or a card because the cashier has no idea how to operate Sber’s face-pay machine.
A Pikabu (Russian Reddit) user (translation: frustrated 20-something) provides this harrowing testimony:
In our tiny town terminals from SBER have started to appear, which allow payment by face.
Since I registered my face in SBER a long time ago and decided to try out advanced technologies in payment. I chose a good moment when there was no queue and here it is... one-time entry of the PIN code and PURCHASE (further payments were made without a PIN code) is completed.
Then the momentary euphoria was shattered by ABSOLUTE ignorance of this payment method among sellers and reactions ranging from surprise to aggression—WHAT are you doing, why did you turn on the camera, cancellation of the transaction by the seller and rude PAYMENT by card like everyone else.
TO THOSE WHO PLACE THESE WONDERS in STORES:
CONDUCT EXPLANATORY WORK WITH YOUR STAFF!
IT’S NOT THE SELLER’S BUSINESS TO FORBID ME FROM PAYING BY FACE IDENTIFICATION
Despite the Ukraine meat grinder mess" it's clearly evident the elites in Russia, China, and the West are obsessed about controlling the proles via surveillance and AI generated mRNA experimental toxins.
Despite the Ukraine meat grinder mess" it's clearly evident the elites in Russia, China, and the West are obsessed about controlling the proles via surveillance and AI generated mRNA experimental toxins.
As usual, the war continues against humanity.
I've called myself a technophobe, now I'm gonna switch to "convenience-hater". 😁