Visa opens new Dubai headquarters for CEMEA region

Visa, a global leader in digital payments, has officially opened the doors to its new headquarters in Dubai for the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) region.

Spanning 100,000 sq ft, the new HQ office will house the company’s almost 500 regional employees–and can accommodate up to 750 employees in the future - expanding the company's capabilities across the almost 90 countries Visa operates in the CEMEA region.

Andrew Torre, Visa’s regional president for the CEMEA region, said: "The new Visa headquarters is an important milestone for our work and presence in the CEMEA region in advancing the digital economy, developing innovative commerce solutions and strengthening strategic partnerships with governments, financial institutions, fintechs and merchants.”

“Our new purpose-built office space is designed to support a hybrid work environment and extends on Visa's culture of collaboration, connection and community. The new space is a realization of our vision of a workplace of the future - a place where our employees, clients and partners can seamlessly collaborate to create solutions, develop user experiences and share ideas - all with the goal of helping businesses, individuals and economies thrive.

“There are a number of exciting new features that marry the best of technology and human-centered design to make working together in-person a truly inspiring experience,” Torre added.

The open layout offers multiple types of workspaces where employees can collaborate and socialize, work quietly, or in groups, to take into account different working styles and to foster a culture of creativity, productivity and wellbeing.

Some of the facilities include formal and informal meeting rooms equipped with the latest technology to enable virtual and face to face meetings and seamless integration with employee devices, focus booths, prayer rooms, mothers' rooms, bike racks and bespoke catering.

Some highlights of the CEMEA headquarters include the 10,000-sq-ft state-of-the-art innovation centre that supports Visa’s commitment to co-create the future of commerce with partners and employees, through agile and design thinking methodologies. The innovation centre features includes immersive experience zones that allow in-situ prototyping, such as a connected home, rapid transit, connected car, crypto zone, retail concept, airline lounge, and small merchant bazaar.

It also features cutting edge technologies such as a hypermatrix wall, and purpose-built briefing centres and collaboration zones. The new space also houses CEMEA’s first Visa University campus which will host a string of training and educational programs for Visa employees, clients and partners.

Torre continued: “As a global company, Visa strives to create an inclusive and flexible work environment that puts the well-being of every employee first. During the pandemic, our employees worked remotely without compromising their productivity or creativity.

“Moving forward, we want to offer our employees the flexibility of a hybrid work model and have put the necessary infrastructure, technology and policies in place to support a work environment that allows for both on-site and remote working and includes several health and safety solutions that will always place the health and safety of our employees and visitors as a priority."

Located in the heart of Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City business districts, part of Tecom Group, the new Visa HQ will serve as a facility to collaborate with clients and partners to develop and deliver breakthrough solutions for digital commerce and payment experiences.