Eazy Financial Services will introduce the region’s first biometric-enabled payment network powered by NCR Corporation, a global leader in omni-channel solutions, in Bahrain.
NCR will support Eazy to develop the necessary payment infrastructure to serve participating financial institutions in Bahrain and over time expand to target the Middle East region, said a statement.
Customers will be required to enroll through participating financial institutions by registering their fingerprints, allowing them to make payments literally at the touch of a fingertip. This holistic payment network will allow customers of any bank linked to Eazy’s network to conduct payments through multiple access points at their disposal, not restricting them to specific banks – introducing a new level of accessibility and customer convenience, it said.
Khaled Al Ahli, chief executive officer of Eazy Financial Services, stated: “The unique biometric payment solution that Eazy envisioned to bring to this region requires a partner that has unrivalled experience in this filed. NCR has an established name in the region and brings to the table a wealth of experience in the financial sector, as well as building a robust infrastructure through its hardware and software expertise, in order to upgrade ATMs and other access-points to enable them to accept and read fingerprints and process necessary data to perform financial transactions.”
Khalid Al Rumaihi, chief executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), said: “Payment innovations such as the ones offered by Eazy Financial are exactly what the market in Bahrain needs. Consumers across the region are looking for a more convenient and secure payment option and we are pleased that Bahrain will be able to provide these solutions.
“In Bahrain, we are committed to providing the ecosystem that can encourage these products and services, whether through start-ups or innovation by global leaders. The rapid growth of FinTech across the world has demonstrated the potential for disruption in the industry and we are keen to help bring that disruption to the region”, he added.
As part of its transformational journey, Eazy will deploy NCR Authentic, an intelligent transaction-processing platform, which will allow Eazy to have total control of its payments environment. NCR will also help Eazy to introduce the region’s first fingerprint recognition technology to ensure secure payment authentication across ATM, point-of-sale (POS) and kiosk channels. This first-of-its-kind alternative payment solution will use biometric data to enable users to perform everyday financial transactions through finger-tip recognition, eliminating the hassle of carrying cards, wallets and such.
“New technologies are challenging traditional business models and transforming the way organisations interact with their customers,” said Wael Elaawar, general manager, NCR Financial Services. “Authentic will enable Eazy to support a full range of payment applications and can be used as a payment gateway, to power consumer payment service hubs or omni-channel systems to drive all major ATM, scaling from support of small gateway systems, to global networks. We at NCR appreciate this strategic partnership with Eazy, which demonstrates the vital role such partnerships plays in the activation and development of ambitious and innovative business and we look forward to launching this platform to the world in the near future.”
Eazy will bring to Bahrain the state-of-the-art payment processing technology ‘Authentic’ from NCR making it the first of its kind deployment in the region. This world class technology has been implemented in developed countries such as USA, Australia, UK, amongst others.
Authentic is designed to easily integrate with any core banking, fraud detection or other internal or external systems. Authentic can accept any type of transaction from any device, source or system, authorise and authenticate it, and route it to any destination.
NCR Corporation, is a leader in omni-channel solutions, turning everyday interactions with businesses into exceptional experiences. With its software, hardware, and portfolio of services, NCR enables nearly 700 million transactions daily across retail, financial, travel, hospitality, telecom and technology, and small business. NCR solutions run the everyday transactions that make your life easier. – TradeArabia News Service
