New biometric payment acceptance solution has been launched by QNB Group, one of the largest financial institutions in the Middle East and Africa, for its merchants in Qatar. QNB, together with its key partners, will be helping merchants with outlets in Qatar to offer customers the simplicity, convenience, and security of facial biometric payments. The solution is based on proprietary facial verification technology developed by PopID, provisioned through QNB’s acceptance network, and supported by Visa via tokenization. The technology enables customers to authenticate payments for goods and services through facial verification, without a physical card or mobile phone after initial enrolment.
As a one-time sign-up, users will create their profile by taking a selfie of their face using their smartphone, before entering their phone number and card details. The technology then tokenizes the card number and securely links it to the facial biometric template. It only takes a minute or two to set this up and then only a few seconds to make the payment. The merchants will offer the in-store sign-up using a QR capability. These developments highlight the driving forces behind facial biometric technology and the wide range of opportunities it is opening up for the future of payment solutions and much more.
Adel Al Malki, Senior Executive Vice President - Group Retail Banking, stated: As the payment landscape evolves, QNB is always at the forefront of this evolution, and constantly willing to be an early adopter of innovative technologies that drive frictionless and enhanced payment experience – putting our customers and merchants experience at the centre of everything we do. Being the ‘first in Qatar’ in another innovation that augments the already rich range of payment options that includes functionality such as contactless payments, QNB “MyPOS” (Tap on Phone payment acceptance) and Samsung/Google/Apple pay, to mention a few.
QNB Group is currently ranked as the most valuable bank brand in the Middle East and Africa. Through its subsidiaries and associate companies, the Group extends to more than 30 countries across three continents providing a comprehensive range of advanced products and services. The total number of employees is 27,000 operating through 1000 locations, with an ATM network of more than 4,600 machines to thrive.
