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Case Study

Sustaining Transport Infrastructure with Facial Recognition Payments: Flexible Platform Ensures Stable Services

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Case Study

Sustaining Transport Infrastructure with Facial Recognition Payments: Flexible Platform Ensures Stable Services

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  • Facial recognition payment system developed to reduce costs for rail operators.
  • Flexible platform connects multiple facial recognition and payment vendors.
  • Facial recognition system can be adapted for various scenarios.

Facial Recognition Payment System Reduces Costs for Railway Companies

Railway companies across Japan are confronting business challenges as people concentrate in large cities and the population rapidly ages amid declining birthrates nationwide. Labor costs have been reduced through steps such as the introduction of IC cards and smartphone apps such as Suica and PASMO, but the cost of maintaining and replacing fare boxes and ticket gates is substantial.

What can be done to solve these issues and maintain the nation’s transportation infrastructure? Marubeni applied its experience working with many transportation operators over the years to create a facial recognition payment service. If a payment system could be implemented using commercially available tablets, it would not only lower operating costs, but also allow elderly customers who are not comfortable using smartphones to use the service without difficulty. Thus, in 2020 Marubeni began the development and testing of a facial recognition payment system for public transportation.

Both facial recognition and payments require multiple privacy safeguards that cannot be introduced overnight. Marubeni first conducted in-house testing of facial recognition only, followed by a pilot program of a system to confirm attendance utilizing facial recognition at Shinshu University in Nagano, Japan. After demonstrating in 2022 that the accuracy and safety of the face recognition system could be guaranteed, tests in 2023 linked the system to payments. After passing through multiple phases, the company is now considering full-scale implementation of the system from this fiscal year onward.

Building a Flexible Platform Connecting Multiple Vendors

During development of the actual system, the Digital Innovation Department facilitated communication between an outside development company and the Sales Department. Marubeni assumed the development costs incurred for trials in Nagano and Toyama, while in the case of the Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau, the project was chosen for trials through a public bidding process. Facial recognition payments in the trials to date have succeeded without major problems.

One of the key aspects of the facial recognition payment platform is that it is not an attempt to build an entire facial recognition technology from scratch, but rather to develop a platform and environment that makes it possible to connect multiple facial recognition vendors and payment vendors. If a system were built based on the assumption of using only one company’s facial recognition and payment system, problems with coordination would arise at some point and hinder the expansion of the system. This sort of flexibility is especially important for supporting social infrastructure such as public transportation.

Many companies besides just Marubeni have been working on services that utilize facial recognition in recent years, and such services are certainly convenient. It is probably also true that many people have a vague resistance to such services. Therefore, it may be meaningful to develop a more stable platform to promote the use of facial recognition across society.

Rollout across Marubeni’s Network

Because the trials to date have shown facial recognition payments to be well-suited to transportation infrastructure, this project is currently proceeding primarily in the transportation sector, but future expansion is being considered for applications such as managing entry and exit to venues such as stadiums.

Safety and security are paramount to the creation of a facial recognition payment system, but it should also be recognized that this project leverages Marubeni’s extensive network. As a general trading company, Marubeni is involved in a wide variety of transportation infrastructure projects, making it easy to foster a sense of unity that transcends the barriers between different operators. The trials in Nagano and Toyama went smoothly because the branch offices in each prefecture already had a close working relationship with local transportation providers.

In pursuit of its primary goal of creating value for our customers, Marubeni has developed a wide range of tools including this facial recognition payment system. Marubeni can provide exceptional technical services precisely because it is not predisposed toward technology. This consumer-oriented approach will be essential to sustain social infrastructure that is relied on by many different people, such as public transportation.

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