The United Arab Emirates through the Emirates Identity Authority will begin requiring biometric identity verification for all mobile purchases. This will include not only payments made to the government, but also payments made to private companies. The mobile phone will serve as an electronic signature to validate identity. Mobile numbers in the UAE are
registered as part of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority’s
‘My Number, My Identity’ campaign. All numbers must be registered by January 14, 2014.
Some other countries, including Nigeria and Pakistan, require the biometric registration of all mobile phone SIM cards to validate identity for mobile transactions. In all of these cases, it is not allowed to make a mobile payment without biometric validation of identity. To those who are familiar with the book of Revelation, the parallels with the mark of the beast should be obvious.
Emirates ID to be Mandatory for all Mobile Payments within 6 Months
Soon you will be able to use your
Emirates ID card in the UAE to authenticate online transactions.
According to the UAE’s Telecom
Regulatory Authority (TRA), the service will be effective within the
next six months.
Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, TRA Deputy
Director-General for Information and eGovernment Sector and Head of
mgovernment Committee, said all mobile payments will be linked to
Emirates ID, which will add an additional layer of security to all
mobile transactions.
“The service will be incorporated not
just for government-related payments but also with regards to mobile
transactions involving private companies,” said Al Mansoori.
The extent of the threat to mobile
payments is still being debated with some claiming that it is more of
a perception that mobile payments are unsafe that is adding to the
problem.
Yet, as scamsters continue to innovate
and device new innovative phishing mechanisms, providing a double
security mechanism through the use of Emirates ID will not only help
assure the user of a much safer transaction but will prevent any
possible misuse of the system said TRA officials.
“Our ultimate goal is to make users
feel secure,” said Al Mansoori.
Emirates ID has taken over and replaced
the responsibilities of many other identification cards, ever since
it was launched. The E-Gate, Labour Card and even driving license can
be replaced with the EmiratesID.
Ali Mohamed Al Khouri, Director-General
of the Emirates Identity Authority (Eida) in a recent interview to
Arabic Daily Emarat Al Youm had said that the Emirates ID will launch
20 of its services through Smartphones before the year-end.
The authority is all set to activate
the digital signature through smart phones starting next year.
According to Emirates Identity
Authority it will soon start coordination with banking organisations
in the country in order to replace a number of the widely used
banking cards with the Emirates ID card. The Eida is also working
with the UAE Central Bank to adopt the ID card for identity
verification instead of all other identity documents required for
certain transactions at banking institutions.
According to Al Khouri, Emirates ID is
in the final stages of e-linking with five government entities in the
UAE responsible for civil incidents before the year-end. E-linking
with other 9 entities will be completed during the first half of the
coming year.
For more about Emirates ID, check out the information at these links.
