PopID, Visa Partner to Debut Facial Verification Payments in the Middle East

Consumer authentication service PopID and Visa have partnered to launch facial verification payment acceptance in the Middle East, the companies announced Tuesday (April 5).

The goal of the collaboration is to provide cardholders with a safe and innovative way to pay, the firms said.

Among the merchants to accept PopPay — PopID’s facial biometric payment solution — are Costa Coffee, the British coffeehouse chain; MMI, a beverage supplier to hotels, restaurants and bars in the United Arab Emirates; and supermarket grocery chain Géant.

These businesses are joined by Cove Beach at Caesars Palace Dubai and Coca-Cola Arena Dubai, which belong to Dubai Holding, the Dubai-based global investment company.

In addition to some brick-and-mortar businesses of Dubai Holding adopting PopPay to accept payments, PopID has signed a deal with Dubai Holding to launch a venture that will support the debut of PopPay in Central and Eastern Europe (CCE) and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

During the first phase of the partnership, Dubai Holding will use PopPay at some of its locations, to be followed by the adoption of the technology to its wider network and through partners across CEE and MENA region.

“Facial biometric payments are at the forefront of payments innovation, providing cardholders a fast, seamless and most importantly, secure way to authenticate and make a payment,” said Akshay Chopra, head of Visa central Europe Middle East and Africa innovation and design, in a statement.

Last fall, PYMNTS reported PopID partnered with Softbank subsidiary Japan Computer Vision to launch PopID’s facial recognition ordering and payment system PopPay, which will initially roll out at Wendy’s First Kitchen (WFK) in Tokyo.

Read more: PopID, JCV Bring Face Pay to Japan

WFK locations in Akasaka Mitsuke, Shibuya Center and Jiyugaoka will begin accepting payments using PopPay. It’s the first time that a quick-service restaurant chain in Japan is authenticating payments using a customer’s face.