Samsung Galaxy S8 will use facial recognition for mobile payments

The rumor of the Samsung Galaxy S8's facial recognition abilities is becoming stronger with each passing day. Bloomberg is reporting that the South Korean smartphone maker's next smartphone will use that particular ability for securing mobile payments.

Here's a snippet of the report:

Samsung Electronics Co.'s new Galaxy S8 will employ facial-recognition technology for mobile payments within months of release, adding cutting-edge security to help the marquee device stand out from rivals such as Apple Inc.'s iPhone, people familiar with the matter said.The Galaxy S8 to be unveiled later this month will blend fingerprint, iris and facial detection to verify users accessing mobile services including Samsung Pay, the people said. It's already working with banks to help them embrace facial recognition systems in coming months, they said, asking not to be identified talking about a private matter. Samsung declined to comment.

Fingerprint, iris, and facial recognition — that is quite a bit of security that relies on organic matter to unlock! And it's certainly the future that we're headed towards.

Wondering what else might be in the Galaxy S8? We've got a roundup of rumors for you.

Florence Ion

Florence Ion was formerly an editor and columnist at Android Central. She writes about Android-powered devices of all types and explores their usefulness in her everyday life. You can follow her on Twitter or watch her Tuesday nights on All About Android.

74 Comments
  • Nice to have a slew of choices! I have been happy with a pin or fingerprint but welcome the evolution.
  • Actually the finger print scanner is the weaker of the three . The iris scanner is by far the most secure biotechnology that used today and the one that's approved by the army to gain security access. Facial security technology has been around for awhile but make no mistake this is not the same as the old s3 tech . Finger print scanner is the least secure . Can't​ wait to see what all the s8 has to offer . Already heard some real good news about the camera
  • If I held up an 8 X 10 printout of your face in front of mine would that fail to fool most facial recognition systems these days?
  • I'll let you know I a month Posted via note 5 are gs7 edge the beast
  • It doesn't work that way. The Lumia 950 series uses Iris recognition and does distinct between identical twins. The S8 might take it a step further.
  • And that wouldn't look very suspicious in the middle of a shop at the checkout. A lot of the new facial recognition software now looks for movement in the face, that's something a photo cant provide.
  • Have a look at the Windows Hello authentication, which uses IR cameras for the facial recognition. Is not fooled by a picture.
  • Sounds convenient
  • Man I want this phone sooo bad. I really wanna hold off for next year cause my s7e is holding its own but there's a couple of nice changes that I'm really digging for this phone.
  • Happy to see this. Finding my S7 Edge fingerprint scanner works about 25% of the time. And that's 4 fingerprints added for better reliability.
  • This is going to drive people absolutely nuts in checkout lanes. The iris scanning is highly aggravating on my 950Xl. Was on the Note 7 too. Gimmick.
  • Not anymore crazy than that cumbersome chip nonsense. Self check out for me everytime.
  • It worked fantastic on the Note 7. Probably 90% or more of the time for me and everyone I knew who had it.
  • You forgot to add the iris scanner is optional​ to use for Samsung pay . And my experience with the iris scanner with my two note 7 was flawless others in here have said the same coolbrezze
  • The iris scanner on my N7 (RIP) worked flawlessly with Samsung pay. Still use print for S7 edge. I don't even remember the last time I used a card.
  • Not sure why some people have issues with this technology and others don't. It worked wonderfully for me on my 950XL and also my short-lived Note 7. So well, in fact, that it was my primary means for unlocking my phones. I miss the feature and cannot wait for the S8 to arrive!
  • worked flawlessly on my Note 7 even with my one screwed up eye
  • I wonder how secure this would be considering I have an identical twin...
  • If you're worried about an identical twin breaking into your phone, you've got a larger problem 😂
  • Haha right I was thinking the same think
  • I would love to know the answer to this! I believe that even identical twins have unique finger prints and iris patterns, but I am not 100% sure.
  • No one has the same finger print and the Iris is even more unique reasons why the Iris scanner is the most secure method
  • The deep state loves you.
  • Sad how Samsung chases Apple rumors!
  • And?
  • Fking LOL so now your arguing(trolling?) is based on two sets of rumours? Weaksauce. You're running out of material cashxx
  • You're an idiot
  • The iPhone is the single most popular phone model, which means that pretty much everything has been "rumored" about the device at one point or another, usually by photoshop-wielding fans. Remember back in 2012, when the iPhone 5 was supposed to have a laser-projection keyboard and holographic screen? The fan-made pictures were good enough to fool New York's Fox News affiliate. What's really sad is that Samsung and other Android phone manufacturers have managed to take those dreams and turn them into real actual devices, while Apple, with it's massive mobile division budget, spends year after year introducing "innovations" like slightly thinner phones, 3 year old mobile payment tech, $170 earbuds, and a notification center that looks awfully similar to the one Android has had since day one.
  • Exactly ^^^^
  • Who cares, they need to get rid of the all glass shatter body, I rather see a nice solid polycarbonate body that can take abuse and is also lighter to boot, who's crazy idea was it to call an all glass fingerprint magnet and fragile body a premium phone, heck I have dropped my Nexus5X, Nexus 6 numerous times with no problems, had the S7 slip out of my pocket on my kitchen floor and the corner bezel got dinged up and the glass has a Halo white look to it in the corner.
  • Thankfully most of us don't drop our phones
  • What happened, did I piss in your Cheerios.
  • As long as they're appealing to the mainstream crowd, that will never happen.
  • I have to agree with cyber tech, glass for something we use every day is just stupid. I'm super careful with my devices yet the glass back cracked on my S7, possibly from pushing it into backpack battery case...
  • Yep Samsung had such a stupid idea bring that glass phone back....that now every one wants to do it apple ,LG, the htc m11 is rumored to be glass . Lots of folks like myself have had all the glass Samsung's since the first s6 till now my s7 edge and note 5 . A Good case is good insurance
    I noticed that it's always that guy that cracked his phone the ones that's complain about the build.
  • What's the point of an all glass phone when you end up putting a polycarbonate shell on it.
  • Wireless charging and it just looks soooo damn good . Put a thin clear case and your good
  • I was complaining about glass long before I cracked my phone mate.
  • I'll keep my wireless charging thank you very much!
  • My Nexus 6 has wireless charging and it's not build of glass.
  • Then keep your Nexus.I like choice, and have no issues with glass back phones.
  • You response makes no sense.
  • It makes perfect sense. I don't have to want the same type of phone you do. Choice. By the way, didn't you get the S7, knowing it was glass? And now you're ******** about it? That makes no sense.
  • Was just about to mentioned that makes you wonder if he really owns a s7 very contradictory
  • Your response to my post you responded to makes no sense, go back and read my post, then your response, then my response with the Nexus 6. Your response was pretty much that you will take a glass phone do to wireless charging, which I responded with, you don't need an all glass phone to have wireless charging, as The Nexus 6 proves that.
  • Your point is moot. It doesn't matter whether you can or you can't. Samsung didn't. I'll keep my Samsung glassed back wireless charging thank you very much.
  • I remember people complaining about Samsung making plastic phones and not using premium materials. Now, people complain about them using glass...
  • Nope most aren't complaining reason they sold 60 million s7 . Just some of the naysayers here on AC
  • An all glass phone is not premium, it's called a fragile fingerprint magnet.
  • I'm not sure if facial recognition will even take off.
  • I can't wait to try it
  • One more month and then I'll fill you guys in on how good it is. Already know how well the iris scanner worked Posted via note 5 are gs7 edge the beast
  • Iris sensor worked surprisingly well from my experience. It's not perfect as direct sunlight and almost no-light proved to be very challenging, but when it works, damn it's fast.
  • I hope Samsung makes it fast but also smart enough to differentiate between an actual human and a photo.
  • Oh ill bet it'll have 3d tech so it'll know it's not a picture Posted via note 5 are gs7 edge the beast
  • You may be on to something with that 3d tech. Otherwise, I see no reason to include an iris-scanner sensor *in addition to* the 8mp front-facing camera.
  • Haha by the time Samsung's is through promoting it everyone will want it Posted via note 5 are gs7 edge the beast
  • well people said that about the iris scanning and it was amazing
  • I guess it needs some type of new gimmick to differentiate it from last years
  • Yep all those gimmicks through the years that now everybody wants to copy ...imagine that .
  • It's not a gimmick useful feature
  • loved having the iris scanning on the Note 7 now I just hope to see a new Note being announced
  • This phone is gonna be a beast
  • Isn't this what everyone says about every new premium phone that gets released every year. You can do everything you need to do nowadays with a phone half to a quarter of the price.
  • C'mon...this is the S8. Ain't nobody talking about NEEDING a basic Android experience. We WANT premium features, a top notch camera, next gen gaming, biometric scanning, a phenomenal display and super fast processor.
  • Another one that has been hoodwinked by these manufacturers, next generation gaming, really LMAO, faster processor which does nothing in day to day smartphone usage, and hasn't in years, that's why they keep throwing all these gimmicks so to hopefully be able to sell you their latest and greatest, LMAO, biometric scanning, the deep state loves people like you, anything else your want to give them.
  • You assume that everyone's NEEDS are the same when it comes to using a phone. I assume that everyone who is interested in an S8, WANTS a great camera, gaming/VR capabilities, biometric scanning, great display, and so on. I guess we're both wrong in the sense of knowing what everyone else NEEDS and WANTS.
  • Agreed cyber. We may not agree on carriers but I'm with ya on this
  • But will the s8 get regular security updates? Thinks to ones self... Naaaa
  • Xactly Samsung makes some nice phones no doubt there - updates - simply is not Samsung's thing... Hasn't been for awhile. Seems like they either allocate most of their existing teams on the next big project \ release and forget about updates - or - they simply don't have enough resources to keep both agendas running at 100%. I guess if your happy with that - then buy Samsung.
  • There you guys go assuming something you don't obviously know I get security updates every month like clockwork​on att and I'm on 7.0
  • I know all too well, my unlocked S7 edge Exynos ( Europe) is still stuck on December 2016 security update. We in Europe have been royaly bent over and shafted by samsung. Hence my last samsung. I don't care how good the hardware is without security updates it's not worth it.
  • Got to love choices ...Right
  • Looks Nice
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