Gemalto’s Biometric Visa Gets Middle East Distributor

“…using fingerprint technology to authenticate a person for payments will provide cardholders a faster, easier and more secure payment process compared to the traditional use of PINs.” – Maher Mikati, CEO, Areeba,

Areeba, a Lebanon-based FinTech solutions provider, will offer Gemalto‘s biometric Visa card to its client in the Middle East.

It’s the latest sign of the rapid emergence of biometric payment cards. It was only the beginning of the year when Visa and Gemalto announced they would trial fingerprint scanning payment cards with the Bank of Cyprus, allowing customers to biometrically confirm contactless payments as the transactions are underway. Now, Areeba is poised to make some of the first commercial deliveries of this technology, in collaboration with local partner Unilux Cards. And, as with the Bank of Cyprus trial, biometric and energy harvesting technology from Zwipe is also playing a central role.

In a statement announcing the partnership, Areeba CEO Maher Mikati asserted that “using fingerprint technology to authenticate a person for payments will provide cardholders a faster, easier and more secure payment process compared to the traditional use of PINs.” Adding further commentary, Gemalto SVP Nassir Ghrous said that by introducing the technology to the MEA region, Areeba is “marking the beginning of a new era – one that will ultimately spell an end to the need for PINs and passwords.”

In their announcement, the companies also emphasized that the biometric card solution is compatible with “thousands of standard POS terminals throughout Lebanon,” suggesting that Areeba’s base of operations offers a ready market for the technology.

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April 16, 2018 – by Alex Perala