A permanent presence in Bahrain's Financial Harbour complex, which is located in the country's capital Manama, will enable Bell ID to better serve its existing Middle East customer base. This includes King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals, SABB (part of HSBC) and Government of the State of Qatar. A local presence will also allow the company to service growing demand within the region for sophisticated smart token management solutions.

Erik Wellen, General Manager at Bell ID Middle East, who will be heading regional operations from Bahrain, comments: "Bell ID has been active within the Middle East for the past eight years; the region continues to be one of the most important and fast-growing economic regions in the world, making it integral to Bell ID's strategic vision for growth. The Middle East has well established EMV issuance and ID card deployments. More recently, we are seeing exciting new developments emerging within the region related to mobile contactless, also known as near-field communication (NFC) technology, and national identity programmes."

David Orme, CEO at Bell ID, added: "This is another milestone for Bell ID. Our token management solutions related to finance, identity and mobile will be more readily available to end users within the Middle East. We also have a growing number of local partners in specific market verticals and territories who welcome our increased commitment to the region."