A customer pays her bill using facial recognition technology at KFC's concept restaurant KPRO in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Sept 1, 2017.[XU KANGPING/FOR CHINA DAILY]

Alipay has launched the world’s first facial recognition payments technology, “Smile to Pay,” for commercial use in Alibaba’s Hangzhou headquarters.

At KFC’s K Pro outlet, customers can authenticate their payments by having their faces scanned and inputting their phone numbers. That means they don’t have to take out their wallets, or even their smartphones.

It takes the application just seconds to recognize and identify a face. Alipay said the machine is equipped with 3D cameras, which means photos or video recordings of people’s faces cannot trick the machine.

The payment platform said it can control security risks by allowing users to disable or enable the feature at any time and will fully compensate users if case their accounts are abused. However, that is not likely to happen, Alipay explained.

Alibaba’s Founder and Chairman Jack Ma first demonstrated “Smile to Pay” for German Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2015.