Today's Edition
Allan Jacob (Dubai)
The future of payments lies in your palm, literally. And it’s here in the UAE. Credit cards could soon be passe, so just wave - at the machine - and pay as you go with biometrics helping you bag that baguette or shawarma with ease.
Launched by Astra Tech, a UAE company at the Dubai FinTech Summit, PalmPay could revolutionise digital payments in the country. It’s secure too, with advanced biometric authentication methods, said PayBy, Astra Tech’s subsidiary that’s rolling out the technology, which the company claimed is a more secure alternative to traditional card payments.
"The UAE is now home to a first-of-its-kind technology that simplifies and secures how our customers interact with the world around them," said Abdallah Abu Sheikh, Founder of Astra Tech and CEO of Botim.
"Palm Pay exemplifies our drive to bring revolutionary technologies to the region and As the sole provider of this technology, we are proud to set new standards in the fintech sector and contribute to the UAE's reputation as a global technology hub,” he added.
Further allaying concerns about security, the company said the technology could be easily integrated with existing point of sale (POS) systems. The “superior security with biometric authentication is 1,300 times” more secure than facial recognition methods and significantly cuts the risk of fraud and illegal transactions, PayBy said in a statement.
Globally, palm payments picked up last year with Amazon Web Service introducing the tech in 200 locations in the US. Amazon is also betting big on its palm ID authentication system, One Enterprise.
In China, WeChatPay is launching these payments in phases, while visa also showcased its palm payment technology in Singapore this February.
