Iris biometrics from IrisGuard to enable paperless disbursement of refugee cash aid in Egypt

IrisGuard has partnered with Egypt National Post (ENPO) and the UNHCR to deploy its biometric mobile platform EyePay Cash to securely distribute financial aid to refugees in the country.

EyePay Cash uses iris identification to provide onboarding and verification in less than three seconds with contactless biometrics, which the company says in the announcement is transparent, error-free, secure and safe.

ENPO is one of the largest providers of postal, financial, and government services in Egypt, and support 20 million customers from 4,000 branches. The new initiative is part of ENPO’s plan to support the country’s National Financial Inclusion Initiative. The agency has been providing instant remittances to refugees since 2017 under an agreement with UNHCR.

Now refugees can collect assistance using iris biometrics at ENPO branches without showing any other identification.

“We are proud to be leading the way in providing financial inclusion for refugees in Egypt,” states IriGuard Founder and CEO Imad Malhas. “We are delighted to be partnered with Egypt National Post ENPO and the United Nations and to provide a safe, secure and 100 percent accurate solution for targeted instant remittances service.”

UNHCR Cash-based Interventions Officer Steven Choka lauded the system’s effectiveness.

“The beneficiary receives aid faster, in privacy and with dignity. The donors are assured complete accountability with every pound generously donated going only to those entitled to receive it, this is documented and a live report is available to ensure complete transparency. IrisGuard targeted aid distribution platform eliminates fraud, reduces bank fees, increases efficiency and allows more beneficiaries to receive the aid they so desperately need,” says Choka.

More than 2.5 million refugees and asylum-seekers around the world actively use the IrisGuard EyePay Cash platform, which can be implemented quickly with little infrastructure anywhere in the world using mobile iris technology, the company says.

IrisGuard announced a partnership with Zain Cash and the UNHCR to provide identity verification for refugees in Iraq in August.

Article Topics

biometric payments  |  biometrics  |  iris biometrics  |  iris recognition  |  IrisGuard  |  UNHCR