Your face card is all you need to pay with Revolut now It is one of the latest features introduced, under certain conditions, by the company – which is increasingly on the rise in the fintech sector
Revolut has recently launched a trial in London of Revolut Pay with Smile, presented as the first payment system using facial recognition technology. The pilot ran from 24 to 26 September 2026 at three branches of the London coffee chain Kiss the Hippo – in the Bloomsbury, Soho and Chelsea neighbourhoods. Customers who had enabled the feature in the app could pay simply by looking at the terminal, with no phone or wallet required, their identity verified via the selfie provided when opening their account. The system works with Revolut Register, a point-of-sale terminal designed and supplied by the company.
For now, the initiative faces two main uncertainties. The first is actual uptake of the service – only Revolut customers who choose to enable facial recognition can use it, and only at venues equipped with one of the company's terminals. The second concerns privacy. The technology behind Revolut Pay with Smile relies on users' biometric data, a category afforded particularly strong protection under the UK GDPR – the domestic version of the European personal data protection regulation that remained in force in the United Kingdom after Brexit. The success of the initiative will therefore depend on the company's ability to demonstrate that paying via facial recognition is genuinely more convenient, as well as secure.
How did Revolut come about?
In little more than a decade, Revolut has gone from being a startup specialising in digital payments to competing with Europe's leading banking groups. The company's business model is built on the ability to offer financial services similar to those of traditional banks, but with lower costs and fees. This strategy has allowed the company to surpass 4 million customers and reach a valuation of over 75 billion dollars, putting it in the same league as some of the continent's largest banking institutions.
Revolut was founded in 2015 by Russian trader Nikolay Storonsky and Ukrainian developer Vlad Yatsenko, both active in London's fintech sector – that is, at the intersection of finance and technology. The idea behind the startup was to make payments and money transfers in foreign currencies cheaper, by avoiding the fees charged by traditional institutions. Technological solutions made it possible to reduce operating costs, offering customers more competitive rates and fees than conventional banks – even the name chosen for the company was meant to evoke the idea of a kind of revolution in the way money is managed.
What people love about Revolut
@rachelrrae_ Would you pay for your coffee with… your face? Revolut has just launched Pay with Smile, a new facial recognition payment method — and you can try it for just £1 at Kiss the Hippo. Just enable Pay with Smile in your Revolut app, choose from the special coffee menu and pay with a glance at the till. You’ll also earn 3x RevPoints on the transaction. Kiss the Hippo — Soho, Chelsea & Bloomsbury Until 26 September £1 speciality coffee Revolut customers only @Revolut original sound - Rachel Rae | London / Travel
Over time, Revolut has largely maintained its original approach, targeting those who want a fully digital account that is easy to open, particularly for managing money in multiple currencies and carrying out transactions abroad without the fees typical of traditional banking services. The service – which today aims to be seen as a fully-fledged bank, even though it has no physical branches open to the public – revolves primarily around its app, through which users can manage their account, convert money into other currencies and make international payments; this is complemented by a digital card usable on the main payment networks, designed to be accepted outside one's home country as well.
It is by no means a given that a fintech company can operate the way Revolut does today: first, it is necessary to obtain authorisation to operate in the financial sector. Revolut achieved this in 2018, thanks to a banking licence granted by Lithuania, a country that has in recent years become known for offering relatively streamlined and straightforward administrative procedures in financial matters. Since Lithuania is part of the European Union, the licence also allowed Revolut to operate across the rest of the European market. In subsequent years, the company went on to obtain further authorisations to operate directly in several countries, including Italy.
Revolut's growth has also been accompanied by a gradual strengthening of its corporate structure. In order to become more institutionalised and align itself more closely with traditional banking models, the company has brought in figures with extensive experience in finance at its senior levels, complementing the technological culture typical of fintech firms with expertise gained within the conventional banking system.
