Financial institutions in the United Arab Emirates will be able to deploy their digital identity processes using Facephi on Microsoft Azure infrastructure located within the country. Facephi is thus aligning its platform with the data residency requirements of the UAE Central Bank, ensuring that the information it processes, from document validation to the evidence of each verification, is stored and processed within the country’s borders. The deployment will be operational for customers between late October and early November.
The move responds to a broader shift in the UAE market, where data location has evolved from a technical consideration into a requirement for doing business. With this deployment, Facephi is also strengthening its commitment to the UAE and the wider Gulf region, a strategic area in its international expansion.
The geopolitical situation across the Middle East has put the region’s digital infrastructure to the test this year. Governments, regulators and financial institutions have begun reviewing where their critical data is hosted and what continuity guarantees their providers can offer. Security remains essential, but it is no longer the only consideration.
This context is compounded by a stringent regulatory framework. The UAE Central Bank’s consumer protection regulations require licensed entities to retain customer and transaction data within the country. This requirement extends across the entire chain of providers involved in the process, including identity verification providers, which handle some of the most sensitive customer information.
“Our customers need certainty that their users’ information will remain in the country and that the service will be there tomorrow. Deploying on Azure in the UAE is a long-term commitment to this market,” explains Henry Rosas, Facephi’s Regional Director for the Middle East.
In addition, digital identity in the UAE increasingly relies on official government sources. Banks, telecommunications operators and universities cross-check customer data against government records before granting access. Facephi’s technology supports this end-to-end process, from document validation and biometric verification to checks against official databases. Running the entire process within a local cloud region reduces latency and keeps each operation under UAE jurisdiction.
Facephi’s growth in the Gulf
The new infrastructure will initially support a UAE-based digital payments platform integrated into a local financial group, making it Facephi’s first customer to operate on this deployment.
The UAE deployment forms part of a regional infrastructure strategy that will enable Facephi to offer different local hosting options in key Gulf markets, including Saudi Arabia, depending on each customer’s regulatory and operational requirements.
The deployment further consolidates Facephi’s presence in the Middle East, where it has operated for years with a regional team based in Dubai. The region thus becomes part of an international network of more than 300 customers across Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
Rosas adds that the UAE model is setting the direction for the wider region: “More and more services are validating customers against official government sources. Our role is to make that process fast for users, resilient against fraud and compliant with each country’s regulatory framework.”