Face Pay system for payment of fares using face recognition system launched at all metro stations in Moscow

Since October 15, the Face Pay service has been launched on all lines and stations of the Moscow metro. It will allow passengers to pay for travel using a face recognition system, said Maxim Liksutov, Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Transport. About it reported on the website of the capital city hall.

According to Liksutov, Moscow has become the first city in the world where the system has worked on such a scale, and Face Pay has no analogues in terms of quality and ease of use for a passenger anywhere in the world.

On September 1, 2021, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin told how the FacePay system works.

“You find a special application on your phone, take a picture of yourself and send [в систему]… Your faces will be registered in the information transport system, and when you pass in the subway, a video camera records you and says “Okay, this is Vanya Ivanov, come in”, and you are written off [средства] from an account, a bank card or an electronic Troika card, as you want, ”the mayor explained.

The installation of CCTV cameras with new functionality in the Moscow Metro began in the spring of 2019. The head of the Moscow Department of Transport Maxim Liksutov spoke about the principles of the FacePay system in an interview with Bloomberg.

“The basic configuration is such that all personal data is stored on the side of banks, we only receive an electronic code, like from a credit card. We do not store personal data on our side. We are focused on the development of biometrics bank payments. The ability to pay in the metro will encourage people to leave their biometric data. You can link your biometric passport to your card in your office at the bank, ”he explained.

April 10, 2020 BBC released a lot of material that the Moscow authorities began to monitor the residents of the city even before the introduction of mandatory self-isolation. The large-scale Smart City system has been under construction in the capital for about ten years.

The mayor’s office purchases geo-analytical data from cellular operators, which allow finding out the location of a person, place of residence and routes along which he travels.

The authorities also collect data using taxi and car sharing services, Troika cards, GLONASS sensors, surveillance cameras and a face recognition system connected to them.