MASROOFI: Saudi Canteen Payment System Using Face Recognition Technology

Traditional payment methods in schools can be time-consuming, inconvenient, prone to errors and fraud, and can potentially expose students to contagious viruses. In Saudi Arabia, most schools still traditionally operate their canteens, using cash as the most popular payment method. This causes canteen crowding during the limited recess time, besides encountering managing cash issues for schools and parents. The main objective of this paper is to explore the potential benefits and challenges of implementing Face Recognition Technology (FRT) for payments in school canteens. Using an Agile approach, a web-based application (Masroofi) was incrementally developed using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and Python. Data were collected through interviews and surveys from both parents and schools. Interestingly, over 40% of surveyed schools have trouble with student canteen payments, as they might get lost, waste time, stack up, etc. On the other hand, 99% of the surveyed parents indicated a strong desire to use cashless payment methods for their children's school expenses. This paper highlights the importance of implementing a biometric FRT for payments in school canteens. Biometric FRT payments offer a more secure, efficient, and convenient payment method, as well as improve record-keeping and reduce errors.