Visa has launched a voice payment service for purchases in restaurants and cafés, which works via Alice, the Yandex voice assistant.

RBC reports citing Visa’s press service that 32 cafés and restaurants in Moscow are already using the new technology. Visa implements the project in cooperation with food and drinks delivery service Bartello.

The service, created on Yandex.Dialogues platform, enables users to make contactless orders of food and drinks at restaurants and make contactless payments and leave tips without waiting for the waiter.



In order to make and pay for an order, holders of Visa cards issued by any Russian bank should ask Alice on smartphone or tablet to use the Bartello “experience”. The voice assistant will clarify in which restaurant or café the user is sitting and what the user wants to order, and then the service will transfer the order to the restaurant kitchen.

A secure webpage will appear for payment and the user is to enter the card information at the first payment. After the user thus adds the card, Alice will ask them to create a password, which the user will need to confirm the next payments.

A visa representative has explained that the technology has no connection to biometrics. Voice payment is not widespread in the market, he has explained, and one of the reasons is that smartphone manufacturers do not usually design the smartphone to serve as an authenticator for confirming payments (it is usually a code, a fingerprint of a picture of the face). In this case, Bartello will deal with identification.

According to Visa, the popularity of voice assistants has grown twofold in the last three years: over 30% of consumers use various services with voice assistants and 10% makes purchases with their help.

The partner of Fintech section is