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According to The Sun, about 67,000 people yesterday were in attendance to see the curtain raiser for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, at All Bayt Stadium, Qatar.

More than one million fans are expected to travel to Qatar for the tournament.

The official payment technology partner of FIFA, Visa, had outlined a payments network that will enable contactless purchases throughout all official venues, including the FIFA Fan Festival.

Reports say this World Cup is the most payment-enabled tournament so far, with Visa installing 5,300 contactless-enabled payment terminals at stipulated FIFA venues.

New payment innovations will also be tried by Visa, giving fans easy access to simple and secure digital ways to pay.

The new methods include:

Pay with your face: Facial recognition technology is a collaboration between Qatar National Bank (QNB) and POP ID and is supported by Visa via tokenization. The solution allows customers to authenticate payments using just their face, without a physical card or mobile phone after initial enrollment. Three Flat White Specialty Coffee branches will pilot this method.

Card art gets animated: Visa is piloting a digital card issuance solution for limited cardholders in Doha. After simply scanning a QR code, a digital prepaid card will be instantly issued and can be added to a mobile wallet The digital card will feature animated card art, with the official mascot La’eeb, demonstrating a future in which consumers could bring greater personalization and even digital animation to their Visa cards.

Accepting payments gets simpler for SMBs: In partnership with three Qatar-based banks, the Visa Tap-to-Phone solution is now available to merchants in Qatar who want to fast-track their ability to accept digital payments in advance of the expected tourist influx. Visa Tap to Phone makes it easier for merchants to use their Android NFC-enabled devices they already own to accept contactless payments—simply by downloading an app.

Visa will enable tap-to-ride around Doha to keep traffic flowing smoothly during the World Cup.

In partnership with Qatar’s Ministry of Transport, the global pay tech is enabling contactless payment acceptance on taxis so fans and Qatari residents will pay for their trips with their Visa card or smartphone.