Facephi plans to deploy its digital identity and fraud-prevention platform on Microsoft Azure infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates, allowing financial institutions to keep identity-verification data within the country. The company expects the infrastructure to become operational for customers between late October and early November.
The deployment will cover the information handled during identity checks, from document validation to verification evidence retained after a check has been completed. Facephi says both storage and processing will take place in the UAE, rather than using a cloud region outside the country.
The architecture is intended to help banks and fintech companies meet local data-residency requirements. The UAE Central Bank’s Consumer Protection Standards require licensed financial institutions to hold and store consumer and transaction data within the UAE. The standards also require a separate, secure backup of consumer data.
The first customer to operate on the new deployment will be a UAE-based digital payments platform integrated into a local financial group. Facephi is building the infrastructure around that initial deployment while preparing a local hosting option for other financial-sector customers.
Henry Rosas, Facephi’s regional director for the Middle East, said customers need confidence in where their users’ information is held and in service continuity. “Deploying on Azure in the UAE is a long-term commitment to this market,” he said.
Facephi’s identity platform supports document validation, biometric verification and checks against official databases. The company says a local cloud region will allow those processes to run under UAE jurisdiction and reduce latency when connecting the steps in a verification journey.
The company has also expanded its independent assurance credentials, recently earning Canadian trust-framework certification for identity proofing. That assessment covered a verified-person component at Level of Assurance 2. Separately, Facephi secured a five-year behavioral biometrics and mule-account detection agreement with a Central American bank, extending its work beyond initial customer onboarding.
Facephi has a regional team based in Dubai and says its international network includes more than 300 customers. The UAE infrastructure forms part of a wider Gulf hosting strategy that includes offering local options in Saudi Arabia according to individual customers’ regulatory and operational requirements.
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
