World Bank Member to Support IrisGuard Expansion in Jordan

A new partnership will see the expansion of IrisGuard‘s biometric payments solution in the Jordan region. The company has announced it will receive support from the International Finance Corporation, a World Bank Group member concerned with the advancement of the private sector in developing countries.

A statement announcing the partnership suggested the organizations’ collaboration will be focused on the Syrian refugee population in Jordan, which is estimated to be greater than 2.3 million. With IFC’s support, IrisGuard will seek to expand the use of point-of-sale devices supporting iris recognition, which can be used to facilitate payments from refugees who may not have access to traditional banking mechanisms. They will need only to scan their eyes in order to withdraw cash from ATMs or make purchases at participating stores.

The effort echoes the United Nations refugee agency’s growing enthusiasm for biometric identification, which that organization sees as a more reliable means of identifying, tracking, and ultimately assisting displaced persons who may not have traditional identity documents. IFC and IrisGuard’s effort will no doubt make life a little easier for Syrians who have fled the ongoing civil war back home.

In a statement announcing the partnership Dalia Wahba, IFC Country Manager for the Levant, asserted that the MENA region “is fast becoming a tech hub for innovative companies like IrisGuard.”

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February 15, 2018 – by Alex Perala