IrisGuard to verify IDs for aid recipients in Iraq

Biometric registration and payment authentication company IrisGuard will help over 280,000 refugees in Iraq receive humanitarian cash assistance by scanning their irises.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has contracted with IrisGuard to distribute its  EyePay Phone, which integrates an iris biometric scanner with a phone. IrisGuard will work with NassWallet, a locally sourced wallet.

They will be aiding refugees in camps in Iraq who have fled from neighboring conflicts, most notably Syria.

Refugees from there have been receiving their salary in cash at refugee-based supermarkets since 2018. The company has also created an iris-scanning camera that can be integrated into ATMs and kiosks.

EyePay software is integrated in the blockchain platform Building Blocks, created by the World Food Program.

IrisGuard’s ID and point-of-sale systems use biometric scans to, in this case, ensure that assistance gets to the unbanked. The company claims it processes $1.3 billion worth of humanitarian aid per year.

All told, according to IrisGuard, 14 million beneficiaries, including refugees.

In 2020, the company said that biometric registration can reduce costs for aid distribution by 20 percent by preventing fraud.

The company has integrated its biometric software and hardware with three wallet operators serving 300 locations across the Middle East and North Africa region, said IrisGuard CEO Imad Malhas in a release.

“Mobile wallets are an increasingly growing modality for the provision of cash-based interventions,” says Malhas. “Our product and service development has been focused on adapting our services to support both online and offline authentication” without sacrificing availability or security.

Article Topics

biometric authentication  |  digital wallets  |  humanitarian  |  iris biometrics  |  IrisGuard