Mastercard Debuts Payment Passkey Service in the Middle East with noon Payments

Mastercard has launched its Payment Passkey Service in the Middle East for the first time, partnering with noon Payments to enable biometric authentication for online purchases in the UAE.

The service allows UAE consumers to authenticate e-commerce transactions using fingerprint or facial recognition on their devices, replacing traditional passwords and one-time passcodes. When shopping online at merchants that support the service, customers are prompted to verify their identity using the biometric capabilities built into their smartphone or laptop.

noon Payments, one of the leading payment service providers in the MENA region and the payments arm of the noon marketplace, is the first acquirer to deploy the Payment Passkey Service in the Middle East. The UAE becomes the second market globally to adopt the technology, following its initial launch in India in August 2024.

The deployment addresses two persistent challenges in e-commerce payments: checkout friction and fraud. Password-based authentication creates abandonment when customers forget credentials, while one-time passcodes add delays and are vulnerable to phishing attacks. Biometric authentication is both faster and more secure, using the FIDO standard to store credentials locally on the user's device.

Mastercard said the UAE was selected as the first Middle Eastern market due to its high smartphone penetration, advanced digital payment infrastructure, and consumer readiness for biometric services. The company has been working closely with noon Payments and local banks to ensure the service integrates smoothly with the UAE's existing payment ecosystem.

Further expansion across the Middle East is planned.