The Newsroom | Visa Middle East and Africa

[visanewsmena]

Visa-SAMA Security Week to help consumers understand their role in securing digital commerce in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, represented by the National Payments System – mada, and the world’s leader in digital payments, Visa, have launched Visa’s Security Week in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, an education campaign that aims to promote safe online shopping habits and provide consumers with tips and advice to protect themselves against payment-related fraud. 

Visa and SAMA surveyed consumers across Saudi Arabia regarding eCommerce and online payments, providing compelling insights into their experiences, attitudes and behaviors. The survey also identifies where shoppers can improve their payments security – and Visa’s tips, posts and videos throughout the week will show them how to do so as part of the #VisaSecurityWeek social media campaign.

For more on this year’s Security Week campaign, you can read the press release, see the survey results, and watch the videos making the rounds on Visa’s social media channels (Facebook, Instagram) by clicking on the links below. 

-   Press releases: English and Arabic

   - Infographics: English and Arabic

   - Videos: Mobile Shopping (English and Arabic), Personal Info (English and Arabic), Secure Website (English and Arabic), and Public Wifi (English and Arabic)

[visanewsmena]

Visa Security Week Aims to Educate Online Shoppers in Egypt

Visa launched its Security Week in Egypt, an education campaign that aims to promote safe online shopping habits and provide consumers with tips and advice to protect themselves against payment-related fraud.

Visa also surveyed consumers across Egypt, providing compelling insights into their payment experiences, attitudes, and behaviors. In particular, the study uncovered attitudes and adoption of new payment technology using QR (Quick Response) codes, which enables consumers to make cardless purchases, pay bills and send or receive money both locally and internationally by scanning a QR code. 92% of consumers surveyed liked the concept of QR mobile payments, with 79% trusting the concept.

Visa is also focused on where shoppers can improve their payments security – and its tips, posts and videos throughout the week will show them how to do this as part of the #VisaSecurityWeek social media campaign.

Click here to see the infographic in English with highlights from the Egypt eCommerce and payments technology study

Click here to see the infographic in Arabic

[visanewsmena]

Visa-CMI Security Week helps consumers stay safe when shopping online in Morocco

The Centre Monetique Interbaincaire (CMI) in Morocco, and the world’s leader in digital payments, Visa (NYSE: V), today launched the first “Security Week” in the country, a consumer education campaign that aims to promote safe card usage and provide consumers with tips and advice to protect themselves against payment-related fraud.

Visa and CMI surveyed consumers across Morocco, regarding eCommerce and digital payments, providing compelling insights into their experiences, attitudes, and behaviors. The survey examined cardholders’ appetite for online shopping, as well as analyzed their trust in online payments.

Click on the links below to view eCommerce and payment methods used by Moroccan consumers.

Click here to view the English language infographic

Click here to view the French language infographic

Click here to view the Arabic language infographic

[visanewsmena]

Visa launches 2018 Security Week in UAE and Kuwait

This June, Visa launched the 2018 edition of its Security Week campaign for the second consecutive year in Kuwait, and a third year in a row in UAE. The campaign aims to empower consumers with knowledge to help protect themselves from fraud, and build consumer trust in digital payments. The campaign is running in the UAE in partnership with Dubai Economy, and with Kuwait Banking Association in Kuwait.

To help promote a safe and secure payments ecosystem, Visa surveyed consumers to understand their perceptions of digital payments security and digtal payments habits. The campaigns are being driven on social media (#VisaSecurityWeek) by a series of educational videos that offer consumers tips to protect themselves from fraud so they can shop worry-free using their cards or mobile phones, both in-store and online. 

For more on this year’s Visa Security Week campaign, you can read the press releases, see the survey results, and watch the videos making the rounds on Visa’s social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) by clicking on the links below.

UAE:

    - Press releases: English and Arabic

    - Infographics: English and Arabic

    - Videos: Mobile Shopping (English and Arabic), Personal Info (English and Arabic), Secure Website (English and Arabic), Public Wifi (English and Arabic), and Contactless (English and Arabic)

Kuwait:

    - Press releases: English and Arabic

    - Infographics: English and Arabic

    - Videos: Mobile Shopping (English and Arabic), Personal Info (English and Arabic), Secure Website (English and Arabic), Public Wifi (English and Arabic), and Contactless (English and Arabic)

[visanewsmena]

Visa Insights: MENA eCommerce Market Opportunities and Challenges (Infographic)

Visa has released an infographic that captures the eCommerce opportunity across the Middle East and North Africa. Click here to download the infographic and to learn more about growth opportunities and challenges for the MENA eCommerce market.

[visanewsmena]

Goodbye passwords. Hello biometrics. 

The all-too-common frustration of forgetting a password may soon become a thing of the past, as people become more comfortable with new forms of biometric authentication. Fingerprint, facial and voice recognition are increasingly becoming ways to authenticate a person for access and payments. They’re faster, easier and more secure compared to the traditional use of passwords or PINs, which are difficult to remember and easy to steal. But does this mean the password could soon go the way of the dial-up modem? 

According to the results from a recent survey commissioned by Visa, consumers are ready to leave the password behind. 

Among 500 UAE residents surveyed, the findings revealed:

·         89 percent of consumers are already familiar with biometrics, with 55 percent using fingerprint recognition on a regular basis

·         Over two thirds (69 percent) of consumers are interested in fingerprint recognition to make future payments, whilst more than half (56 percent) are interested in paying using eye scans

·         Over three quarters of consumers would switch away from companies in the future that don’t offer biometric authentication

For financial institutions, integrating biometric technology into banking apps and payment experiences for customers makes sense, but how does biometric technology actually work? We asked Visa’s biometrics team to start with fingerprint authentication and explain why it can be more secure than traditional methods like password and PIN. Learn about how the simple touch of a fingertip triggers capacitive scanners, conductor plates and electric currents (including the one flowing from your skin) in this informative video.  

To view the full survey findings, click here to read them in English or here to read them in Arabic. 

[visanewsmena]

Visa: Dubai sees a steady journey towards a cashless society

UAE’s Khaleej Times published an article by Ihab Ayoub, General Manager, MENA, Visa, on the benefits of adopting digital payments for consumers, businesses, and governments in Dubai, according to unique study, commissioned by Visa and conducted by Roubini ThoughtLab, which demonstrates the potential benefits of this move across 100 cities worldwide. In the article, Ayoub highlights the importance of education as key in driving acceptance of new payment technologies and accelerating shift towards cashless economies. 

Click here to read the full article in Khaleej Times.  

[visanewsmena]

Shop your story with Visa Checkout

This summer, even more merchants in South Africa are going live with Visa Checkout, Visa’s eCommerce platform. In support of this, three of South Africa’s most prolific storytellers and social media personalities will share their Visa Checkout shopping stories.

Kojo Baffoe, Zodwa Kumalo and  Tiana Cline are all participating in Visa Checkout’s Content Challenge series that will see the influencers take on shopping challenges using the platform’s merchants for their purchases. Each influencer has a unique story that will feature who they are as well as their interests; and the selection of their challenge will also tell their experience with Visa Checkout – from item selection and payment, to delivery and final setup of their goods.

Visa Checkout is an online checkout service from Visa that allows customers to make purchases quickly, securely and easily from their smartphone, tablet, laptop, or PC. Customers just have to register once to enter their billing and address details, and all future transactions are processed using just their username and password with no further information required. Customers also never leave the merchant website so the entire process is seamless and fast and is now offered by over 450 online merchants in South Africa.

Follow Zodwa, Tiana and Kojo to check out their shopping experiences and sign up for Visa Checkout yourself on Visa Checkout Sign up.

[apvisaeditor]

Visa Welcomes Women’s Nigerian Bobsled Team 

Inspired by their determination, Visa helps pave the way to PyeongChang for this group of Olympic hopefuls

Visa today announced the addition of three athletes who make up the Nigerian Women’s Bobsled Team to Team Visa, currently training to become the first ever African representatives, men or women, to qualify for the Olympic Winter Games in the sport of Bobsled. Together, Bobsled pilot Seun Adigun, and brakemen Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga, combine their elite track backgrounds to chase their bobsled dreams. For the full news release, please click here.

[visanewsmena]

UAE startup takes home US$50K top prize from Visa’s Everywhere Initiative finals

Visa (NYSE:V), the world’s leader in digital payments, has selected a tech startup based in the United Arab Emirates as the winner of its Everywhere Initiative, a global program designed to encourage the development of the next big thing in payments. The winning mobile payment solution beat 12 other finalists selected from 190 entrants to emerge as the champions in the first ever Middle East and North Africa edition of Visa’s Everywhere Initiative program.

The program is structured around three real life business challenges: enabling electronic payment acceptance among smaller merchants and providing secure eCommerce solutions; transforming the transit experience at airports; and building customer loyalty through the right offers at the right time. 

Qpal has developed a mobile payments solution to speed up payments for food and beverages at events compared with conventional cash methods, thus maximizing event revenues by shortening queues.  The UAE-based startup won both the “Acceptance Challenge” as well as the overall prize for its idea. The company took home US$50,000 and the opportunity to work with the team at Visa’s Innovation Center in Dubai to develop the concept further.

Swvl, an Egyptian private commuter shuttle service helping travelers find the smartest routes across cities to airport hubs, among other destinations, for a flat fare, won the “Airport Transit Challenge” and $25,000.

Bebuzzd, another UAE-based startup, has developed a one-stop shop for users who can pay merchants directly from the mobile application while earning and redeeming points for their purchases. It also serves as a customer acquisition platform for small and medium enterprises. It won the “Loyalty Challenge” and a $25,000 prize.  

Shiv Singh, SVP Innovation & Strategic Partnerships at Visa, said: “We have had the privilege of working with some of the best minds in the region over the last few months and have selected three category winners with the potential to truly change the way people pay in the region. We congratulate Qpal, Swvl, and Bebuzzd and thank all the finalists for participating in the Everywhere Initiative, and we wish them success in the future.”

He added: “The future of digital payments will be shaped through collaboration and we look forward to working with our startup partners to transform the payments landscape over the coming years to the benefit of consumers, merchants and issuers alike.” 

Ihab Ayoub, GM for MENA at Visa, said: “Visa is proud to play its part in enabling a smart economy powered by cashless, secure digital payments across the GCC and the wider MENA region. We remain committed to this vision by collaborating with passionate minds across the region, and fostering an entrepreneurial ecosystem in which innovators thrive. We are excited to build on the technologies that have secured the top positions in each of these challenges, and making them a reality for consumers in the near future.”

Pankaj Kundra, Senior Vice President, - Payments and Personal Banking, Mashreq Bank UAE and one of the panel judges for the event, said: “It is a unique initiative from Visa to engage with the start-up community across the region. With innovation one of the cornerstones of our organization, Mashreq is proud to be part of an event that places such an interest in the region’s growth and talent development. With so many ideas showcased, that address real world challenges, I am personally excited to see them go live. With the success of these ideas, we are one step closer to proving that we have the right environment for innovation to flourish.”

Visa’s Everywhere Initiative is a global program designed to support the company’s goal of fostering the growth of next generation payment technologies. This is the first time Visa has rolled out its Everywhere Initiative in MENA. To date, nearly 1,500 fintech startups from across North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia have participated. 

[visanewsmena]

Fourth industrial revolution front and center at GITEX

By Paul Walsh, SVP- Platform Strategy & Innovation, Visa  

Paul Walsh, Visa’s Senior Vice President of Platform Strategy & Innovation spoke at Gitex 2017 in Dubai, UAE this week. Below are his thoughts on his engagement with one of the Middle East and Africa regions’s most important innovation and technology showcases: 

“Landing in the UAE to speak at the annual GITEX Technology Week it quickly became clear that I was visiting a country that has fully embraced the so-called ‘fourth industrial revolution’.

According to the World Economic Forum’s Klaus Schwab, the fourth industrial revolution fuses the “physical, digital, and biological spheres; ”[1] and prior to my on-stage discussion on “the new norm: disruption through innovation” I had a chance to walk around GITEX to explore some great examples of people, machines and software interacting to deliver new customer experiences.

GITEX Future Stars showcased the technology of tomorrow conceptualized by startups from around the world. Over at the main hall, Visa had a Bentley prototype of the Connected Car on display, which showed how payment transactions can be integrated into everyday machines to deliver a seamless, hassle-free customer experience. Paying for parking to pizza right from the car’s console showed the art of the possible for connected cars of the future.

Making technology invisible and taking friction out of the payment experience was one of several recommendations I made to delegates during my talk. By 2020, there will be around 21 billion connected devices, which means 21 billion ways to pay AND over 44 zettabytes of data in existence. What we do with the information and opportunity is pivotal. Merchants need to think about how to use connected devices and the volume of data to deeply understand their customers and to anticipate how they are interacting with technology in order to deliver contextual offers and richer experiences.  

Another key point I conveyed to the audience was that they are not alone in this process. In fact, brands working together to co-create solutions, the “omnichannel” approach, is one of the keys to disruption through innovation. This is the crux of Visa’s more open approach to developing new solutions through our Visa Developer Platform. The platform provides simplified access to many of Visa’s most in-demand products and services through an open network of Visa APIs, allowing partners to transform great ideas into new digital commerce experiences. We should not operate as singular organizations coming up with the next big thing anymore; yet operate in a system of sharing our skillsets and expertise to accelerate the ideas and solutions of tomorrow.

That is why we opened our Innovation Centers around the world.  We invite the region’s most forward-thinking companies and public sector organizations to collaborate with us and develop safe, innovative payment offerings to enable seamless commerce moments. The connected car is a product of the collaboration sessions and we welcome partners to help ideate around our next great challenge in Dubai, Smart Cities.

GITEX Technology Week was a great platform to place a well-timed spotlight on the huge range of opportunities being created, and increasingly co-created, by the fourth industrial revolution.”

[1] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/

[visanewsmena]

Visa addresses future of payments innovation at Middle East and Eastern Europe Security Summit in Tbilisi, Georgia

Visa recently hosted its Security Summit for Middle East and Eastern Europe, bringing together key stakeholders to discuss the trends, challenges and innovations in payments security that are transforming the way we pay across the region and globally.

The summit theme, The Future is Digital – Securing a Connected World, reflects the growing connectedness of an increasingly digital world shaped by new consumer behavior, new players, and new solutions. Leaders from Visa and around 100 senior executives from key financial institutions, merchants and governmental bodies across MENA and Eastern Europe discussed local and global risk trends, protecting the payments ecosystem from evolving cybersecurity threats, improving the customer experience, and shaping the future of digital payments.

Commenting on the importance of the Security Summit, Hector Rodriguez, Regional Risk Officer for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, Visa, said: “For people, merchants and governments to use electronic payments and enjoy their benefits, they need to trust them. That is why we invest in cutting-edge technology, and collaborate with our partners through platforms such as our Security Summit to ensure everyone is protected every time they pay or are paid using our products, solutions, and network.” 

For more on the Security Summit and to read what some of our partners had to say about the engagement, you can read the press release by clicking on any of the links below.

UAE: English and Arabic

KSA: English and Arabic

Lebanon: English and Arabic

Rest of MENA: English and Arabic

[visanewsmena]

Tapping Africa’s mobile payment potential through mVisa

Byline by Andrew Torre, Group Country Manager, Sub Saharan Africa, Visa

Africa is a continent rich in potential for the payments industry. It is a leader in mobile payment innovation, and according to sources like McKinsey, eCommerce will be a $75 billion[1] industry by 2025. Yet, today this continent, comprising 1.2 billion people, remains trapped in cash, with just 3 percent of all consumer transactions going through electronic forms of payment. Compare this to Sweden, with a population of 9.6 million people, which generates more Visa transactions a year than the entire African continent combined.

The utter dependence on cash hampers the growth of innovative industries and the ability to include more people in the formal financial system. However, mobile phones represents the biggest opportunity of managing cash displacement. In line with this, Visa has been working on an Africa Acceleration strategy to grow merchant acceptance, introduce new mobile-based customer experiences, and bring more people into the financial system.

Enter mVisa. Visa’s QR code based mobile payment solution, which has recently been making waves in Kenya and Nigeria.

Kenya is ground zero for mobile money innovation in Africa and one where mVisa has stiff competition from an entrenched player. M-Pesa has transformed that category for millions of Kenyans and is so entrenched that, according to some sources, around 42 percent of Kenya’s GDP goes through the service.

Visa’s approach to giving a viable alternative to Kenyans was to form an alliance of leading issuing banks to have them enable mVisa onto their mobile banking apps and allow all consumers to send money to each other domestically without incurring any transaction fees. Considering the thousands of dollars that Kenyans spend on transaction fees every year, this was an especially exciting turning point in the effort to make mVisa a favourite way to pay and be paid in Kenya. For merchants, the QR code lowers the cost of acceptance, and enables them to receive funds directly and securely to their bank accounts. This is critical in helping them manage their supply chain without any delay.

A slew of marquee merchants in Kenya are now accepting mVisa including leading department store Nakumatt, IMAX theatres, supermarket chain Zucchini, service station operators KenolKobil and Little Cab. Over the next few months, thousands more merchants will be enabled to accept mVisa, aided through partnerships with merchant aggregators like Direct Pay and Jambo Pay.

In Nigeria, there is no such dominant domestic player. However having a product that is accessible and relevant to the mass segment is still very important in a country that while being the biggest economy in the continent, still suffers from low awareness and trust of electronic payments.

Banks and merchants in Nigeria have started rallying around the mVisa product and are the first to work with Visa to enable cross-border payments through mVisa. This is a critical requirement for African economies.

Cash is so embedded here not because it is a great technology, but because the alternatives have never been good enough to become broadly adopted in the places where Africans shop on a day-to-day basis. mVisa is a game changer because it’s such a simple, interoperable service that allows people to use the mobile phones they already have, and for merchants to accept it without any costly infrastructure investment. We at Visa really believe mVisa will be key in transforming commerce in Africa and we are only at the very exciting beginning,

The speed at which mVisa has been enabled at numerous banks and merchants in Kenya and Nigeria is also testament to the global, interoperable standard that mVisa is based on. Having access to Visa’s Developer Platform has allowed all partner banks the ability to integrate the mVisa APIs directly into their mobile banking apps. While rolling out a new solution with a bank typically can take a very long time from development to implementation and testing, utilizing the Visa Developer Platform interface reduced the time taken significantly.

These announcements are only the tip of the iceberg as mVisa makes its way to more countries around the world. With mVisa now live in India, Kenya and Nigeria, the team is well on its way to launching Visa’s QR code based mobile payment service in more countries around the world.

[1] http://www.mckinsey.com/industries/high-tech/our-insights/lions-go-digital-the-internets-transformative-potential-in-africa

[visanewsmena]

Visa partners with UAE-based Mums@Work to launch ‘Return to Work’ program for women resuming career

Visa has partnered with Mums@Work, a UAE-based organization dedicated to bringing talented women back to the workforce, to offer work flexible work arrangements for women across the UAE. The 12-week ‘Return to Work’ program aims to support women returning to the workplace after a two-year or longer hiatus.

Gregory Sottolano, Visa’s Vice President, Human Resources, for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, recently spoke with DubaiEye 103.8 about Visa’s partnership with Mums@Work and how it aligns with the payments technology company’s commitment to building an inclusive and diverse workplace. Click here to listen to the full interview.  

The ‘Return to Work’ program is accepting applications until 10th September  2017, with selected candidates offered pre-interview coaching via Mums@Work career coaching team ahead of undergoing a comprehensive interview process. Eligible candidates can apply or find out more about the initiative by visiting www.mumsatwork.ae/returntowork.

[visanewsmena]

Visa and its partner banks bring free mobile money transfers to Kenyans through mVisa

Visa announced that consumers of its Visa-led bank partnership in Kenya would not have to pay transaction fees for person-to-person (P2P) domestic mobile money transfers initiated through mVisa. 

mVisa will now also be accepted at  thousands of merchant locations across the country including Nakumatt, KenolKobil, IMAX Theaters, EatOut, Zucchini, Little Cab, Kenya Airways, and Bata. mVisa will soon be accepted at merchants aggregated through Direct Pay Online and Jambo Pay, enabling an even easier eCommerce experience for Kenyans.

mVisa’s General Manager for East Africa, Sunny Walia, spoke to Business Today on the exciting development and also showed how mVisa works. To watch the full interview click this link. 

[visanewsmena]

Visa launches first ever Everywhere Initiative in MENA

Visa recently expanded its Everywhere Initiative, an innovation program designed to encourage the development of the “next big thing” in payments, into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for the first time. Entrants will have the opportunity to compete for a chance to win up to US$50,000 to support a development program with Visa, or through business partnership with Visa’s clients, and potentially have access to Visa APIs, executive mentors and technologists. 

Visa invites eligible participants in the MENA region to submit their business solutions that apply to one of the following three briefs:

-       Challenge #1. Acceptance Challenge. How can start-ups leverage Visa APIs for either:

o   Enabling smaller merchants to accept payments in-store digitally, OR

o   Providing a safe and secure solution for online merchants to drive ecommerce and reduce cash on delivery?

-       Challenge #2. Airport Transit challenge. How can startups leverage Visa’s APIs, mobile technologies and connected devices to transform their transit experience at airports?

-       Challenge #3. Loyalty Challenge. How can startups make it easier for consumers to select the right Visa card for their purchases and be notified about the right Visa offers and benefits at the right time?

One winner per brief will be selected, and each will receive a US$25,000 cash prize. Winners of the prize will be invited to a working meeting with Visa, and may be presented with the opportunity to create a prototype. Visa will then select one overall winner to receive an additional US$25,000.

Click here for details on how to participate in Visa’s Everywhere Initiative. Participants have until 4 August 2017 to submit their ideas, after which judges from Visa will select three finalists per brief who will be invited to present their ideas to the judging panel in Visa’s Dubai office.

You can read the full press release in English and Arabic.

[visanewsmena]

Visa whitepaper to help banks improve rates of card transaction declines

The majority of card transaction declines each year have nothing to do with fraud. According to Visa’s whitepaper, “Enhancing Authorization Performance”, more than 76 per cent of transaction declines are tagged as either “insufficient funds” or “do not honor,” which can be for a number of different reasons including suspicious activity or location, with another common reason being expired cards.  Many of these instances could be avoided if banks implement Visa’s recommendations.

“Enhancing Authorization Performance” offers banks recommendations on how to positively influence customer behavior even in a decline situation; how to use personalized reactive email or SMS messages when a transaction has been declined – explaining why and advising the customer how to resolve the situation; and how to provide banks with tangible and useful examples on how to effectively communicate with their customers.

Click here to download our white paper to learn how to improve authorization performance, unlock significant payments volumes and deliver a better customer experience.