Dear Tunza Friends,

Glad to share with you another positive move by UAE.

UAE government and financial institutions  have decided to integrate bank cards like ATM card , credit cards , debit cards with UAE national ID card called Emirates ID card – to minimise environmental degradation caused by plastic cards. Apart from abolishing plastic cards which do not disintegrate , this move will save money on transportation for delivery of cards and subsequent carbon emissions(from transportation) .

The ID card will be used for authentication processes to verify the identity of the cardholder. The ATMs [machines] or credit card terminals will process the financial transactions.

The pilot results will be announced within six months [in the second quarter of 2014], and depending on the results, the plan will be implemented. After the pilot phase, ATMs will have to be configured to read the national ID card.

This integration  will have many benefits like :

1) It would  save millions spent on card deliveries.

2) It would end people's plight of carrying multiple bank cards and remembering personal identification numbers (PIN).

3) would reduce carbon footprint by reducing use of plastic (in current bank cards).