Ant International Launches World’s First Iris Authentication Feature in Smart-glasses Payment Solution

In a global first, Ant International, a leading global digital payment, digitisation, and financial technology provider, has added iris authentication features to Alipay+ GlassPay, its AR glasses-embedded payment solution, through partnerships with leading smart glasses producers.

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Currently, Alipay+ GlassPay integrates multi-modal biometric verification measures including the AI-powered voice interface with intent recognition and voiceprint authentication technology. With the new feature successfully tested on AlipayHK, Alipay+ GlassPay now enables merchants and service providers to create an even smoother, more secure, and more immersive consumer experience via augmented reality. Using the latest innovations in AI and AR (augmented reality) technologies, leading smart glasses manufacturers Xiaomi and Meizu are Ant International's inaugural partners to implement various payment functionalities on smart glasses globally.

Multi-modal secure authentication for AR consumer experience

Riding on rapid advances in AI, smart glasses are emerging as a new gateway for interactive commerce by bridging physical and digital consumer experiences. The device integrates instant try-ons, interactive shopping and simplified checkout wherever the customer is. By industry estimates, consumer adoption of smart glasses could grow almost sevenfold between 2024 and 2029 to 18.7 million units globally¹.

Iris authentication has seen accelerated adoption around the world because of its clear security advantages over other biometric authentication methods. It is resistant to spoofing, thanks to a larger number of distinguishing feature points compared with facial or fingerprint analysis.

Alipay+ GlassPay's iris authentication feature compares over 260 biometric feature points to verify and protect the identity of the user. It uses AI and advanced liveness detection technology to counter fraud attempts using photos, videos, or 3D masks. Using advanced imaging algorithms, the solution accurately verifies user identity in various lighting conditions, offering reliable, zero-contact security with a simple glance throughout the day.

The solution integrates an end-to-end security suite for e-wallets and apps, including a unique personal encryption key scheme to safeguard user data. In accordance with laws and regulations, device manufacturers, digital service providers and technology providers will work together to ensure compliance with security requirements in different markets.

The multi-modal security framework of Alipay+ GlassPay is powered by Ant's gPass, the world’s first trusted connection technology framework for smart glasses, which enables glasses manufacturers and developers to build a secure AI digital services system, innovate new application scenarios for the device, and expand on its utility for consumers. As AI ​​and AR use cases continue to expand, gPass is committed to providing global users with a safer and more convenient experience with smart devices.

New customer engagement and growth avenues for merchants

Building on AR-embedded payment, Alipay+ GlassPay will support merchants and digital platforms to develop a more enriched and efficient consumer experience. For example, smart glasses may help consumers to hail a ride and move seamlessly from a satisfactory offline try-on to an instant online purchase, saving merchant warehousing and logistics costs and improving omni-channel management.

Ant International will introduce the enhanced Alipay+ GlassPay solution to manufacturers, service providers and developers in the Asia Pacific.

Today, Alipay+ connects over 1.8 billion user accounts on 40 mobile payment providers to 100 million merchants across 100+ core markets. With one integration, mobile payment partners can access Alipay+’s expanding toolkits for customer engagement and business growth. Among these, Alipay+ now integrates QR-based and card payments via a global NFC solution. It also enables a full range of agentic AI features including MCP-based AI payments built on Alipay+ GenAI Cockpit, an AI-as-a-Service platform for fintechs.

"Payment remains the foundation of all fintech and all financial services,” said Peng Yang, Chief Executive Officer of Ant International, speaking at the panel on AI roadmaps at the 2025 Singapore Fintech Festival. "Ant International is laser-focused on pushing the frontier of payment from all angles: hardware-embedded consumer services, card+QR interoperability, bank-to-wallet connectivity, AI merchant payment orchestration for agentic commerce, and much, much more. Seamless, real-time, around-the-clock secure global payment will be a main engine for global resilience and growth in a time of great change.”

“We are excited to offer our advanced embedded payment solutions to smart hardware innovators and digital service providers to expand the exciting horizon of augmented-reality commerce. Ant International will continue to push payment innovations across the frontiers of interoperability, agentic AI, and new hardware solutions,” said Jiang-Ming Yang, Chief Innovation Officer, Ant International.

“Xiaomi smart glasses are a key component of Xiaomi's AI terminal strategy. Leveraging Xiaomi's leading advantages in smart personal devices and an ecosystem of diverse use scenarios, we will expand cooperation with partners worldwide to enrich AI-driven lifestyle experience for consumers worldwide,"said Zhang Lei, Vice President of Mobile Phone Department and General Manager of Wearable Devices, Xiaomi.

“The ultimate goal of smart glasses is to seamlessly integrate technology into our lives," said Guo Peng, Head of XR Business Unit of Xingji Meizu. "Iris payment solution is a critical step toward this vision — it makes the act of paying feel natural again. However, the more invisible the technology becomes, the more visible the safeguards need to be. In our collaboration with Ant, our focus is not only on achieving faster and more seamless recognition but also on building a comprehensive security framework — from encrypted storage to liveness detection — ensuring the complete protection of users' biometric data. As for smart glasses payment solution, security is not just a feature; it is the very foundation."

About Ant International

With headquarters in Singapore and main operations across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America, Ant International is a leading global digital payment, digitisation and financial technology provider. Through collaboration across the private and public sectors, our unified techfin platform supports financial institutions and merchants of all sizes to achieve inclusive growth through a comprehensive range of cutting-edge digital payment and financial services solutions. To learn more, please visit https://www.ant-intl.com/

¹The Rise of Smart Glasses, From Novelty to Necessity, IDC, 21 Jul 2025

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