Dubai, January 30, 2026, 13:45 (GST)
- UAE central bank begins a pilot allowing payments via facial or palm scans, billed as a regional first
- Proof-of-concept is running at Dubai Land Department with Network International and PopID
- The move comes amid a wider push for digital payments, while Amazon moves to end its Amazon One retail service
The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) has begun piloting a payments system that lets users pay by scanning their face or palm, in what it called a regional first. The proof-of-concept is being demonstrated at the Dubai Land Department and is enabled by Network International and powered by PopID, it said.
The project lands as the UAE pushes cashless payments and readies a central bank digital currency known as the Digital Dirham, the National reported. About 50% of adults in the Middle East have a financial account, World Bank data show, it added.
Palm scanning is a form of biometrics, which uses a person’s body to confirm who they are. The scanners shine near-infrared light to read the vein pattern under the skin and can approve a payment in under a second, Gulf News said.
Gulf News said the pilot is running under the CBUAE’s sandbox programme — a controlled test bed for new financial technology — and its innovation hub at the Emirates Institute of Finance. “The introduction of biometric payment solutions represents a strategic step to delivering more secure and seamless payment experiences,” assistant governor Saif Humaid Al Dhaheri said; Network International chief executive Murat Cagri Suzer called biometrics “the next frontier” in digital commerce. The central bank has not set a timeline for a wider rollout, focusing first on tests, the report said. Gulf News
PopID has already brought biometric payments to the UAE, teaming up with Network International to install its Face Pay platform at Carrefour in 2023, Biometric Update reported. Network International chief executive Murat Cagri said a “highly supportive regulatory environment” in the UAE helped firms build payments infrastructure as the country pushes towards a cashless society, it said. Biometricupdate
In China, Tencent said it launched Weixin Palm Scan Payments at 7-Eleven stores in Guangdong in September 2023. Users enrol via an app and then pay by holding their palm above the sensor, the company said.
But biometric payments have yet to prove they can scale in every market. Amazon said it will discontinue Amazon One across its retail businesses after “limited customer adoption”, keeping it running until June 3, and will delete customer data after the service ends. TechTarget has flagged cost, encryption and data handling as typical hurdles for palm-scanning systems. Business Insider
The UAE pilot now tests whether shoppers will sign up for palm or face scans in exchange for speed at the checkout. It also gives regulators a live run at the hard part: deciding what “secure enough” looks like once biometrics leave the lab and hit real tills.
