Today.Az - Visa ready to support global financial players entering Azerbaijani market

Visa is ready to support global financial players entering the Azerbaijani market, Vice President, Regional Manager in Central Asia and Azerbaijan at Visa Cristina Doros told Trend.

According to her, Visa and Azerbaijan have established extensive cooperation in the development of payments, including digital ones.

"Cooperation with banks and other new payment sector actors can be identified as well. We’re pleased that Visa has managed to establish open and constructive relationships in Azerbaijan, among them are the first launch of Visa Token Service technology (tokenization) in 2019. For example, the Apple Pay service was launched in Azerbaijan at the end of 2021 promoting the development of the country’s payment business. Nowadays many people are paying through mobile phones and smart watches without using bank cards. Visa is ready to provide the necessary support to other global players entering the Azerbaijani market," Doros said.

The regional manager noted the tokenization benefits in e-commerce. Payments of this kind allow ensuring maximum security, convenience, and speed. According to recent studies by Visa, 59 percent, or about six million Azerbaijani people have one bank card, while 19 percent – two or more. Meanwhile, online payments via credit card account for 16 percent of Azerbaijanis’ expenses.

"Visa actively cooperates with financial institutions in supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). She's Next global project, which has also been implemented in Azerbaijan, can serve as an example for this. The project is focused on development of local business through training along with supporting women's leadership. Growing number of online payments increases transparency in doing business and results in rising budget revenues, social, and other payments. The more SMEs participate in the digital economy, the stronger the state economy becomes,” Doros noted.

As she stated, a small percentage of online payments falls in the regions of Azerbaijan. Baku residents do not face problems with non-cash payments, however, Visa and the government still have to work on the development of infrastructure and financial literacy in order to make digital payments available outside the capital.

She also noted that Visa jointly with Kapital Bank has taken the first step in this regard.

"The launch of the Mobile Pos solution based on Visa Tap to Phone technology allows accepting non-cash payments on the Android platform. Visa is actively working with Azerbaijani banks to develop the relevant area," the regional manager said.

According to her, the entry of global players such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal into the market is accompanied by explosive growth in the number of transactions.

"The factor of convenience is of major concern, as there is no need to take out a wallet, credit card or cash to make any kind of payment. One can easily use a mobile phone or smart watch for this purpose. The entry of major economic players into new markets opens up new segments for the development of non-cash payments," Dorosh said.

She also outlined Visa’s investments exceeding $9 billion in cybersecurity development over the past five years.

“The security element is necessary step while setting up any solution. Fraud has always been an integral part of the online environment. Visa is making great contributions to the fight against fraud. Over the past five years, the company has invested more than $9 billion in cybersecurity, particularly in anti-fraud systems. To create a solution against specific types of fraud, Visa has invested $500 million in AI and Data Infrastructure. The mentioned solution enabled us to prevent very large fraudulent transactions in 2021. Visa Advanced Authorization alone helped protect customer funds from fraud in $26 billion last year. The continuous improvement of technology and the development of financial literacy among our users help the company make very effective decisions to counter cybercriminals," Doros said.