Revolut has today begun piloting what it describes as the UK’s first in-store facial recognition checkout, with merchants paying 0 per cent processing fees on transactions made through the system. The trial, called Revolut Pay with Smile, runs at three Kiss the Hippo cafés in London until Saturday.
The service runs on Revolut Register, a new point-of-sale system for hospitality businesses. Once a customer has enrolled, the technology checks their face against the selfie identity check they completed when they first signed up to Revolut, then authenticates and processes the payment.
Customers opt in through the Revolut app. Revolut said they will then be able to look at the terminal to pay for a coffee, a meal or a round of drinks without a phone or wallet.
The pilot is open to Revolut customers at the Bloomsbury, Chelsea and Soho branches of Kiss the Hippo from 24 to 26 September. Guests who pay with a smile can order from a special Revolut menu, with speciality coffees priced at £1, and will earn triple RevPoints, the bank’s loyalty programme, on every transaction.
Revolut, which secured approval to operate as a UK bank earlier this year, published research alongside the launch on the costs independent venues face at the till.
According to Revolut, independent venues spend an average of £875 a month on payment processing and infrastructure, rising to more than £950 a month for pubs and bars. The company said terminal outages cost venues £2,495 a year in direct lost revenue.
Its research also found that two thirds of independent venues face verbal outbursts from customers multiple times a week because of poor checkout experiences. Revolut said more than half of Britons report delays or failures caused by merchants losing their internet signal.
In June, a Worldpay outage knocked out card payments at pubs, shops and restaurants across the UK during an England World Cup match.
Revolut said Revolut Register is a modular, two-screen register designed to bring payments, banking and floor operations together. It has a built-in eSIM backup, which the company said is intended to keep terminals online if a venue’s connection fails during peak hours.
On security, Revolut said transactions are authenticated with end-to-end encryption managed inside the Revolut app and that personal data is never stored by merchants. The Information Commissioner’s Office has published guidance on biometric recognition under UK data protection law.
Revolut Register is available at a 50 per cent discount, at £349.50 plus VAT against a recommended retail price of £699 plus VAT, for merchants signing up for their first terminal until 31 December 2026.
The company said the pilot extends its payments business into facial recognition checkout and opens a new revenue stream. It did not say when, or whether, Pay with Smile would be rolled out beyond the three cafés.
Alex Codina, general manager of merchant payments at Revolut Business, said: “With over half of Brits reporting delays or failures due to merchants dropping internet signals, checkout friction is driving customers out the door. To solve this, we’re deploying Revolut’s full technological ecosystem to reinvent the mechanics of the hospitality industry and give consumers the payments experience they deserve.”
He added: “By combining high-performance processing with facial recognition technology, we’ll replace outdated, fragmented tills with a hyper-efficient checkout experience designed to solve consumer and merchant pain points.”
Alex Damgaci, managing director of Kiss the Hippo Coffee, said: “In hospitality, a seamless checkout is no longer a luxury, it’s the bare minimum. Technology that takes the friction out of the payment process and offers payment flexibility gives operators the reliability they need to protect revenue and maintain guest satisfaction.”
He said: “To mark the pilot we’ve put together a special menu for the three days, and we’re looking forward to welcoming guests to pay with a smile at our Bloomsbury, Soho and Chelsea cafés.”
Amy Ingham
Amy Ingham is a reporter at Business Matters, covering UK business news with a focus on breaking news, business policy, late payments and insolvency. She joined the magazine in 2026 after completing the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism at Harlow College's journalism school. Her recent reporting includes British Steel's nationalisation and its impact on SME suppliers, the decline in late payments by large firms, and Insolvency Service director disqualifications. Reach her at aingham@cbmeg.co.uk.
