NEC Trials Cashless Payment by Facial Recognition

Tokyo, Japan, June 21, 2016 - NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) today announced a series of trials for cashless payment services using its facial recognition technologies at small shops inside its head office building in Tokyo. These trials are being conducted from late June to the end of August as a part of NEC's initiatives to apply its biometrics authentication technologies, which have been recognized as the world's most accurate*, to a range of services, including cashless payment, aiming to enhance the reliability and convenience of the identification process.

This payment service uses NeoFace facial recognition technologies, featuring NEC's facial recognition algorithm, which have been recognized as providing the world's highest authentication accuracy*. This enables identity verification by matching employees' pre-registered facial images against the images taken by a camera that is installed near a point-of-sale (POS) terminal at the check-out counter inside a shop. With the introduction of this technology, retailers can provide shoppers with payment services, without using cash or credit cards.

During this trial, NEC analyzes authentication performance and operational workload under a wide range of conditions inside the shops, including the types of cameras in use, installation position, lighting, balance between security and convenience and others.

Fumiaki Matsubara, senior vice president, NEC Corporation said, "This trial will enable us to improve technological performance and to accumulate knowledge towards the commercialization of facial authentication-based payment services, thereby helping NEC to enhance FinTech services and ensure greater safety and security."

In April 2016, NEC launched a large-scale trial of its "Walkthrough Facial Recognition System" at its head office. This biometrics system is capable of recognizing people in motion using facial recognition technology without the need for the subjects to stop in front of the camera. These cashless payment trials are the second round of NEC's trial campaign to promote its biometrics authentication technologies.

Note: * http://www.nec.com/en/global/solutions/biometrics/technologies/nist_proven_accuracy.html

About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation is a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies that benefit businesses and people around the world. By providing a combination of products and solutions that cross utilize the company's experience and global resources, NEC's advanced technologies meet the complex and ever-changing needs of its customers. NEC brings more than 100 years of expertise in technological innovation to empower people, businesses and society. For more information, visit NEC at http://www.nec.com.

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