NEC : Introduces Face Recognition System for Store Payments and Admission Control at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan

Tokyo, May 23, 2024 - NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) will introduce a face recognition payment system at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan (the Expo) to be held from April 13 to October 13, 2025. In-store payments using face recognition and additional face-based authentication for admission management will improve user convenience through hands-free payments, and will ensure safe, secure and efficient Expo operations by preventing identity theft. In addition, as part of the EXPO 2025 Digital Wallet, a proprietary electronic money, "MYAKU-PE!" (*1), will be offered as a face recognition payment service at Expo site stores equipped with stera terminals (*2). If a ticket holder registers their facial information and payment method, they are able to make payments without using smartphones or cards by simply going through face recognition at participating stores. MYAKU-PE! or credit cards (*3) may be selected as payment methods. This is the largest store payment system in Japan that links electronic money and face recognition (*4).

The admission control system is intended for Season Pass and Summer Pass ticket holders (*5). 51 admission gates at the entrances to the Expo site will be equipped with face recognition to prevent impersonation through ticket lending and borrowing, etc. When a person with a valid pass enters the Expo site, a QR code on their ticket is read by a gate, and then additional face recognition is performed by a camera installed at the gate. The number of registered visitors is expected to reach 1.2 million, making it the largest face recognition service provided by NEC in Japan.

In addition, Season Pass and Summer Pass ticket holders will be able to use both the on-site payment and admission services with a single face registration (*6), providing a comfortable and convenient experience at the Expo site.

This service is available to customers who have registered and agreed to the use of their biometric information. All personal information, including facial images, will be safely stored within a platform in Japan. Personal information will not be used for any other purpose without an individual's consent.

NEC provides the "NEC Digital Platform" for supporting the realization of digital transformation (DX) for customers, including strategic consulting and implementation. In addition to the Expo, NEC utilizes its leading biometric authentication technology, one of the core technologies of the NEC Digital Platform, to implement safe, secure, and reliable technologies throughout society and in cooperation with a wide variety of partners. NEC has ranked first in the world multiple times in the "1:N authentication" test, which requires higher accuracy than any other face recognition technology benchmark test sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the United States. While improving the performance of the core algorithm, NEC has promoted the social implementation of face recognition and developed face recognition business in more than 50 countries and territories around the world.

The technology has been deployed in 80 airports globally, and is being used in various applications such as immigration, customs declaration, boarding procedures, and hospitality, and is becoming a representative use case for face recognition technology.