Customers of the Qatar National Bank (QNB) have the opportunity to use contactless payments for purchases at retail outlets in this country without resorting to a physical payment card or smartphone.

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QNB is the first bank in Qatar to adopt the practice of biometric payments using facial recognition technology. Representatives of the financial organization stated that this technology is characterized by a simple algorithm of functioning, a high level of convenience, and an acceptable degree of transaction security.

The bank’s customers can access the new service by registering their face and linking the image to the selected card, or by scanning a QR code at a point of sale that cooperates with a financial institution.

The new technology allows users to verify the authenticity of payments for goods and services using face verification without using a physical card or mobile phone after initial registration. This is stated in the QNB statement.

As a one-time registration, users create their profile by taking a photo of their face with a smartphone before entering their phone number and card details. The technology then marks the card number and binds it to a biometric face template. The duration of this procedure is no more than two minutes. Bank customers who use the new service will be able to make a payment within a few seconds. Sellers will offer to register in the store using a QR code.

The Bank is implementing the service in partnership with Visa. The financial institution uses the PopPay solution from the provider of biometric payment technologies PopID.

Visa and QNB have launched a pilot project to introduce biometric payments using facial recognition technology at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. This was the first experience of any application of this technology in Qatar.

As we have reported earlier, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Release Contactless Payment Devices.