Gova: Pay with your Face [Fully Explained]
The last decade has witnessed a massive rise in the adoption and rollout of digital payment solutions such as mobile payments, debit cards, cryptocurrencies, and online wallets. But as with everything else in technology, as soon as one innovation takes off, another follows quickly behind it. The newest advancement in the payment space is biometric payments using facial recognition technology.
Facial recognition technology has remarkably improved in recent times compared to decades ago. It has become so accurate that it’s possible to recognise people from grainy CCTV footage from a funny angle with poor lighting. A couple of years ago, that would be inconceivable or impossible, but new and improved Machine Learning(ML) techniques have made it possible for AI-powered devices to recognise human faces even more accurately than humans.
Due to the impact of COVID-19 across the globe, people have become more conscious of the number of daily touch points they make, whether grocery shopping, paying for food at a restaurant or simply punching in their PIN at an ATM.
It’s safe to say that the COVID-19 pandemic was a key driver towards the adoption of contactless digital payment experiences worldwide. It may well have brought forward the timeline for secure and contactless biometric technology like Gova.
In countries like China, facial recognition payment adoption has skyrocketed over the past couple of years. Over 1,000 stores have installed a facial payment system, and more than 100 million Chinese have registered to use the technology.
What is Gova?
Gova is a secure payment solution that seeks to reshape how Africans make payments and welcomes Africans to the futuristic world of biometric payment that allows them to send, receive and pay for goods/services (online and offline) using biometric identifiers such as their face. What this means for Africans is that they can now head out to do their shopping by looking at a camera, authenticate their identity and then make payment without cash notes, ATM cards, wallets or phones. It’s that simple.
Gova will also improve the financial security of Africans as it is much more secure than other digital payment solutions that require traditional passwords or PINs, as no one can hack one’s face. This makes payments fast, convenient and more secure.
Gova face payment technology may sound unusual or like something out of a science fiction novel or movie, but believe us when we say it’s no different than taking a selfie or unlocking your iPhone with your face. It’s simply cooler. 😉😉
How Gova Biometric Payment Works
Gova face payment technology consists of four(4) main steps.
- Facial Registration: At this stage, the customer must download the Gova App from Playstore or App store, take a selfie photo of their face, and complete the regulatory KYC(Know Your Customer) process with their consent. Our Gova facial machine-learning algorithm will match the selfie photo taken with the KYC identifier provided by the customer. If the result is a perfect match, the customer can create a Gova customer account successfully. This stage only happens once
- Facial Initiation occurs when a customer wants to make or authenticate payments. At this stage, the customer must confirm the payment amount and consent for their selfie photo to be captured by the merchant’s mobile device for secure Identification.
- Facial Recognition occurs when the merchant has captured the customer’s selfie. Gova facial recognition algorithm reads the geometry of the customer’s face called facial nodal points/landmarks. These nodal points carry distinctive details about a customer’s face that are unique to that customer alone, such as the distance between the eyes, the shape of the chin, the distance from forehead to chin etc. Our algorithm simultaneously tracks up to 83 nodal points on the face from various angles. These nodal points are then converted into a mathematical representation and compared to data provided by the customer during facial registration.
- Facial Validation occurs when the selfie photo captured by the merchant at the point of payment matches the selfie photo taken by the customer whilst creating their Gova account. If the match is positive, the customer’s account will be debited for that particular payment, and the merchant’s Gova wallet will be credited instantly.
The Gova face pay process generally takes about 5–10 seconds.
PS: It is important to note that the customers’ selfie photo being captured by the merchants are not stored or saved on the merchants’ device or any server; instead, it is deleted immediately after face recognition and validation occurs.
Get Early Access to Gova
Be the first to try out Gova when we launch. Thousands of people have signed up on our waitlist to enjoy these features.
If you’d like to join our waitlist as a customer or merchant, please signup here
If you have questions about Gova, you can always reach out to us at hello@govahq.com.
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