Zwipe announces pilots of biometric payment cards in India and MENA region
“We are proud to confirm our first pilot in India, one of the world’s largest and fastest growing payment markets”
Biometric payment cards may soon become for Easy Pay users in India as Zwipe, KL HI-TECH and Easy Pay have announced an upcoming pilot with the aim to launch commercially by Summer 2022.
Zwipe is the fintech firm innovating biometric payments and partnering with Easy Pay is key to gain exposure to more than 2 million retail stores and millions of consumers as the Indian payments brand has grown fast to become one of the market leaders in its field.
Easy Pay to deploy Zwipe’s biometric cards in 2022
Easy Pay was founded in 2014 and ideated and executed “Paisa Nikal”, an AADHAR Enabled Payment Service (AEPS), to allow hassle-free and safe transactions for millions of users.
The firm has processed payment transactions worth USD 8.4 billion in 2020 and its expected to reach USD 12 billion in 2021.
Next-generation biometric payment cards will be the next step for the company and the pilot will be executed in collaboration with Zwipe and KL HI-TECH, Zwipe’s manufacturing partner in India.
Zwipe will also support Easy Pay through all stages of the pilot ensuring that end users’ experiences and feedback are systematically captured and impact on business case thoroughly assessed.
Nilay Patel, Founder & CEO of Easy Pay said, “We are very pleased to bring the next generation contactless cards to India, enabling world-class security, safety and experience for our customers. We see many use cases for biometrics beyond payments, for example access cards for use in hotel chains, as well as high-end real-estate and smart city projects where we have long term contracts and a demanding client base. Following internal tests and external pilots we aim for commercial launches of biometric payment cards during summer of 2022.”
André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe said, “We are proud to confirm our first pilot in India, one of the world’s largest and fastest growing payment markets. Easy Pay has been a pioneer in driving innovative payment services and biometrics will enable them to further drive differentiation based on security, safety, and user experience. We are delighted that our card manufacturing partner, KL HI-TECH, is part of this exciting journey which we very much look forward to pursuing together”.
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Zwipe expands in MENA region via areeba
Zwipe has also confirmed an upcoming pilot of biometric payment cards with an undisclosed medium sized bank in Lebanon that serves thousands of high net-worth and affluent consumers in the wealth management segment.
Zwipe’s single silicon biometric payment card platform has triggered a lot of interest across many markets in the Middle East. The bank will be supported by one of Zwipe’s well-established strategic partners in the region, areeba. Areeba has launched biometric card pilots with many leading banks in the region in the past few years.
Speaking on this development, Maher Mikati, CEO at areeba said, “We are always seeking to make use of the latest technologies available to make life more convenient and safer for our esteemed clients. With biometric payments we will significantly enhance user experience and security of our card payment products. We are pleased to pilot the latest generation of biometric cards with Zwipe and this leading bank in wealth management and private banking in the region.”
Ramzi Saboury, General Manager of Zwipe in MENA Region said: “We are very proud that, just weeks after deciding to issue biometric payment cards for their customers in Lebanon and Iraq respectively, areeba is ready to issue biometric payment cards as a service to other issuers in collaboration with Zwipe. We are confident that the pilot will show how biometric payment cards can help the bank to attract new customers, uplift customer loyalty and ensure excellent returns from their payment portfolio. Zwipe will be supporting the bank through all stages of the pilot journey, ensuring smooth pilots with strong end user focus.”
