Revolut Lets UK Shoppers "Pay with Smile." Will Its Trading App Be Next?

The useful part

Revolut started a trial today (Thursday) that lets UK customers pay in stores by looking into a camera. The first merchant is London coffee chain Kiss the Hippo, and the service, called Pay with Smile, runs on the company's Revolut Register checkout terminal. Merchants pay no processing fee on face payments, a waiver Revolut said is meant to help independent venues.

How it works

• When the company launched a point-of-sale iPad app for restaurants and cafes in March 2024, its card fees started at 0.8% plus 2 pence per transaction.
• The company, whose customer base topped 68 million in 2025, is trying to sign up more business clients.
• Trial Runs in Three London Cafes Through Saturday Customers have to switch the feature on in the Revolut app.
• At checkout, the terminal photographs the customer's face and matches it against the identity checks completed when the account was opened, the company said.
• The first sites are Kiss the Hippo cafes in Bloomsbury, Chelsea and Soho, open to the service until Saturday.

Details worth keeping

It is off by default, and consent is confirmed again at the till. Alex Codina, general manager of merchant payments at Revolut Business, said the company is "replacing outdated, fragmented tills with a hyper-efficient checkout experience." The chain plans to offer Pay with Smile at all 12 of its locations later this year, when Revolut expects a full launch.