- Industry leaders convene on future of payments at event in Casablanca, Morocco
- Key sponsor Visa discusses innovation in payments and the digital revolution
Casablanca, Morocco; 1 March 2018: Visa (NYSE:V), the world leader in digital payments, sponsored the “Forum of E-payments in Africa“ in Casablanca on Feb 22nd and 23rd, which brought together over 180 industry leaders to discuss innovation and digital transformation in electronic payments. Now in its sixth year, the forum has become an anticipated annual event throughout the region, with a strong focus on Morocco, but with an increasingly international perspective.
As part of its commitment to driving innovation within the electronics payments sphere, Visa spoke on panels discussing the impact of the digital revolution on the bank of tomorrow, the expansion and acceptance of electronic payments, and the rise of fintech players in the financial services sector.
The discussions during the 4 panels of day 1 of the forum were around the opportunities and challenges rising from the constant evolution of the digital payment industry, and how banks and other stakeholders are investing and adapting their strategies to respond to new customer needs. The relationship with Fintechs was also debated to examine how these players could help improving the customer experience. The merchant acceptance landscape in Morocco and the new global trends were also presented during a dedicated panel.
Ihab Ayoub, Visa’s General Manager for MENA, commented: “Technologies are continuing to evolve at an unprecedented pace, and the average consumer in MENA is increasingly tech-savvy, with a preference for the internet and smartphone. It therefore comes as no surprise that the world of payments is changing rapidly alongside, as banks and financial companies across the region recognize the need to stay relevant to their customers and promote financial inclusion. This event is a great forum for us to showcase our innovations and demonstrate our ongoing commitment to working with banks, merchants and payment networks within the country, and across MENA to help reap the quantitative and qualitative benefits of digital transformation.”
Earlier in 2018, Visa announced the findings of its independent study “Cashless Cities: Realizing the Benefits of digital payments”, conducted by Roubini ThoughtLab, that quantified the potential benefits of transitioning from physical money to digital payments in 100 cities across the globe - one of them being Casablanca. The study found that Casablanca is currently at a cash-centric level of digital maturity, owing to a proportion of the population being unbanked, low availability of digital payments infrastructure, and under-utilization of digital payments.
After analyzing the various costs and benefits of both digital and physical payments across the 100 cities, this study estimates that increasing digital payments in Casablanca could result in total direct net benefits of up to US$ 900 million (MAD 8.41 billion) annually to Casablanca’s economy - roughly equivalent to 3.75% of its GDP.
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About Visa Inc.
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is the world’s leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company’s relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of connected commerce on any device, and a driving force behind the dream of a cashless future for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit www.visamiddleeast.com, www.visanewsmena.tumblr.com or follow us on Twitter @Visamiddleeast.
For further information, please contact:
Erica Alkhfaji/Shaleen Sukthankar
ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller
Dubai, UAE
Tel: 971-4-4507600
Email: [email protected] / [email protected]