UAE residents can soon make e-payments using Emirates ID

Emirates Identity Authority (EIDA) said on Tuesday it is working with financial institutions to allow residents to make e-payments through identity cards and introduce digital signature to make payments using smart phones.
“Our co-operation with the payments industry in the country resulted in the launch of a number of innovative projects such as the use of the identity cards in withdrawing money from ATMs. This cooperation will widen in the near future, culminating in the use of the identity cards for e-payment transactions at various sales outlets,” Dr Ali Mohamed Al Khouri, Director General, Eida, said during his opening address at the 15th edition of the “Cards and Payments Middle East 2014” conference.
“I also expect to expand the use of Emirates ID cards as an introductory card in the banking sector in the near future,” he added, drawing attention to the authority’s agreements with financial institutions in the country for the use of the ID cards in enabling the card holders to reliably authenticate and complete their financial transactions with a high degree of security.
Al Khouri said the use of ID cards in e-payment would strengthen the level of security in view of its advanced features that provide a high degree of data confidentiality, impenetrability and capacity to counter fraud.
“This digital transformation will enable the UAE to achieve a quantum leap in its competitive edge as it helps save millions of dollars that the public and private sectors as a result of fraud and related expenses to curb it.”
Eida chief stated the authority’s determination to strengthen its identity management infrastructure through digital verification of identities via mobile phones, thereby strengthening smart government projects and initiatives.
“This will be done through actually linking the smart phones and ID cards with each other by downloading data into the phone chip so the user can complete his transactions and related fee payments using his phone. This will be a simple process that takes no more than entering a pass code. You will soon see mobile phone users benefitting from identity verification data stored in their phones and completing transactions with the support of digital signature,” he said.
According to Al Khouri, the total spend via smart payment systems across the world in outlets reached $4 trillion in 2013.
“There are around 1.8 billion payment cards in operation in the world. Likewise, global e-trade is expected to register substantial growth in the next three years, increasing from $1.5 trillion currently to $ 2.5 trillion by 2018. Meanwhile, the total number of purchases using cards is expected to reach 280 billion.”