Revolut, the UK-licensed bank, has launched a pilot of Revolut Pay with Smile, the UK’s first in-store facial recognition checkout system, at select Kiss the Hippo cafés in London from 24-26 September. The system allows customers to authenticate payments via facial recognition while offering merchants zero processing fees on all transactions through Revolut Register, a new hospitality point-of-sale hardware platform designed to eliminate checkout friction and payment outages.
- Pilot locations: Kiss the Hippo cafés in Bloomsbury, Soho, and Chelsea
- Processing fees: 0% on all Revolut Pay with Smile transactions
- Average merchant processing costs: £875 per month (£950+ for pubs and bars)
- Terminal outage losses: £2,495 annually per independent venue
- Register discount: 50% off at £349.50 + VAT through 31 December 2026
The pilot addresses documented pain points in hospitality payment systems. Revolut research found that independent venues spend an average of £875 monthly on processing and infrastructure fees, while terminal outages cost operators £2,495 in direct lost revenue annually. Two-thirds of independent venues report verbal hostility from customers multiple times weekly due to poor checkout experiences. Revolut Pay with Smile operates without requiring customers to carry wallets or phones; users simply authenticate via facial recognition against their stored selfie ID from account signup. The system employs end-to-end encryption, with personal data never retained by merchants.
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.
– Alex Codina, General Manager of Merchant Payments at Revolut Business
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.
– Alex Damgaci, Managing Director at Kiss the Hippo Coffee
Revolut Register features modular two-screen hardware unified with payments, banking, and floor operations functions. An integrated eSIM backup prevents connectivity failures during peak hours. For the limited-time pilot, Revolut customers using the system at participating cafés can purchase speciality coffees for £1 and earn triple RevPoints on every transaction. The Revolut Register is available at a 50% discount for new and existing merchant customers until 31 December 2026, with facial recognition transactions carrying zero processing fees indefinitely.
Alex Codina, General Manager of Merchant Payments at Revolut Business. Source: LinkedIn
