(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 19. 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.
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