Dubai: – Visa, the world leader in digital payments, showcased the latest trends in payments technology at an event held at the Visa Regional Innovation Center in Dubai; the payments giant shared its latest innovations in the seamless payments area. A lot of which they aim to launch in the region. Some pipeline technologies for Egypt included "Visa Tap to Phone" and sustainable products.

Leila Serhan, senior Vice President and group country manager for North Africa levant and pakistan at Visa expressed her happiness with the pace of the adoption to digital payments and the growing need for these trends.

 "To activate the tap to pay application, which is a low cost form of accepting digital payments, there must be a national card coding platform (tokenization), this method will empower SMBs, which aligns with both Visa’s strategy to support small businesses and the CBE financial inclusion strategy.” She added “we look forward to launch a range of green products in Egypt to promote environmental sustainability policy,"

For her part, Serhan added: "Visa has a vital role in supporting the movement of funds digitally around the world through its presence in more than 200 countries and regions, and the number of payment cards supported by Visa reached 3.9 billion cards globally as of the end of last March with a transaction volume of $ 255.4 billion during the period from July 2021 to June 2022, and Visa cooperates with 14.9 thousand financial institutions with a transaction volume of 14 records. A trillion dollars by the end of June, as well as cooperating with more than 80 million traders globally."

Leila Serhan explained that the application " Tap to phone" currently works in more than one country in the region, most notably Lebanon. The application makes it easier for sellers to use the smartphones they already own to accept payments, and all it takes is downloading the application.

The app enables small businesses to connect more quickly to the Visa network to start accepting contactless payments using devices they already own, and customers can safely make small payments just by clicking the contactless card, phone, or smartwatch on the seller's NFC-enabled smartphone.

"According to Visa’s market study Stay Secure, payment trends such as 'Shop Now and Pay Later, found a turnout from Egyptians during 2021, where the number of users of the service recorded 29% compared to 25% who did not use the service, and 24% have no intention at the moment to use the service, and Egypt is been classified the seventh in the preference of the service, after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and before Pakistan."

And added that, “Visa provides smart wallet service in collaboration with banks to pay purchases, pay bills electronically and transfer between accounts."

It's worth mentioning that, Visa’s regional innovation center in Dubai, UAE officially opened its doors at an event attended by regional media, clients, and industry partners. The 4,000 square foot facility is designed to replicate the success of Visa’s innovation centers in San Francisco and Singapore and serves the Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa (CEMEA) region’s clients and partners to help support Visa’s commitment to building cashless economies. The event included market insights, social impact initiatives and a sneak peak into the payments’ giant innovation plans for the region.

-Ends-