PopID and Visa Bring Face Payments System to the Middle East

PopID is expanding to the Middle East. The company’s face-based PopPay naked payments system is set to debut at Géant grocery stores and at Costa Coffee and MMI locations, where registered users will be able to link their biometrics to their payment information to pay for goods with only a facial recognition scan.

The move is being carried out in collaboration with Visa, which is working with PopID to promote the adoption of naked payments technology. PopID has also partnered with Dubai Holding, a global investment company based in the United Arab Emirates. Dubai Holdings will introduce PopPay at Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena and at Cove Beach at Caesars Palace Dubai before expanding the rollout to other attractions and merchants in the Dubai Holdings portfolio. The two companies will launch a joint venture to facilitate that expansion.

The Dubai Holding joint venture will target businesses throughout Central and Eastern Europe in addition to the Middle East and North Africa. This is PopID’s second major international expansion following the debut of PopPay Japan, which was launched in collaboration with SoftBank Corp. PopID initially became popular with restaurants in Southern California, though it is taking steps to expand to the rest of the US.

Visa and PopID believe that facial recognition will become one of the most popular payment methods within the next decade. Together, they will be reaching out to banks in the MENA region to offer services that would allow customers to link their biometrics to a debit or credit card. Those financial institutions would also be able to distribute PopID’s payment terminals to businesses within their own client networks.

“From across our partner network, we’ve seen heightened interest in co-creating new facial and biometric payments moments,” said VISA CEMEA Innovation & Design Head Akshay Chopra. “Through this partnership, we are keen to help clients roll out biometric payment capabilities faster and with more success.”

“We expect face pay to become the global standard for payments, and we are determined to make PopPay the consumer brand that is used and trusted by people all over the world,” added PopID CEO John Miller. 

PopID offers a PopEntry access control solution in addition to PopPay. That system was installed at a senior living facility in Denver back in 2020.

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April 6, 2022 – by Eric Weiss