Blockchain payment service for underbanked in Africa adds facial recognition

The Advanced Project will soon add a facial recognition payment system to their TIER app in Africa, a blockchain-based multinational payment and remittance service for the unbanked, according to a release.

Blockchain is known for its security and decentralized architecture which ensures that financial transactions are transparent and reliable, the release claims.

Facial recognition and liveness detection will be used for fraud protection, but also to identify customers’ financial patterns and preferences to provide them with individualized services. It enables secure payments at no or low cost regardless of the device and enables payments without the need for smartphones, cards or cash. It also reduces labor and operating costs.

AUC tokens, the Advanced Project ecosystem’s utility token, are paid as a reward when users pay with face biometrics.

The will be launched in Q4 2023 and fully commercialized in Q2 2024. The biometric payment method will also be featured on the Dubai AI & Web3 Campus in Dubai’s DIFC Innovation Hub before the end of 2023.

The Advanced Project is also distributing deposit-only ATMs for the unbanked who aren’t able to verify their identity, according to another release. Users can now use TIER as a digital passbook by depositing cash into the ATM, entering their TIER information or scanning a QR code before adding to their balance.

Some communities in the African continent face a lack of income or resources and may face language or cultural barriers when trying to access financial services. Refugees and immigrants are also more likely to become unbanked.

Ten ATMs have been installed in South Africa as a pilot program. By the fourth quarter of 2024, an additional 30-plus machines will be deployed in South Africa’s major cities and rural regions that lack financial infrastructure.

The government of India recently contributed $2 million to the African Development Bank’s digital financial inclusions project to extend digital public infrastructure to unbanked people.

Article Topics

Advanced Project  |  biometric liveness detection  |  biometrics  |  blockchain  |  facial recognition  |  financial inclusion  |  South Africa