By : Mohamed Shawqi
Visa , the world’s leader in digital payments, hosted the Egypt Payment Security and Digital Solutions Conference in partnership with the Egyptian Banking Institute (EBI). Attended by leaders from Egyptian banks, merchants, and fintechs, the event featured presentations by Visa’s experts from business development, innovation and risk on the latest cybersecurity trends and digital solutions. Visa also presented its security roadmap for Egypt’s payments ecosystem, which is based on the strategic security pillars of devaluing data, protecting data, harnessing data and empowering consumers.
An integral part of the roadmap is facilitating the deployment of best-in-class digital solutions such as contactless cards and tokenization to support both in-store and online payments, as well as data-driven authentication and risk scoring solutions, and transaction controls for more seamless cardholder payment experiences. The roadmap also promotes stakeholder compliance with data security standards that protect payment ecosystems from breaches and theft of cardholder data.
Ahmed Gaber, Visa’s General Manager, North Africa commented: “By building a roadmap for Egypt that is designed to support risk governance, digital innovation and security, Visa is committed to driving security across the payment ecosystem to make the environment more secure while improving the cardholder’s payment experience. Of course, no entity can protect the system itself, and that is why engagements such as our conference that foster collaboration and the collective responsibility of all stakeholders are so important. We are delighted with this opportunity to engage with the Egyptian Banking Institute and our wider industry partners on building a payment security roadmap in Egypt that protects consumers and businesses from fraud, and supports the government’s ambitions for a cashless society that extends the social and economic benefits to more Egyptians.”
Mr. Abdel Aziz Nossier, Executive Director of the Egyptian Banking Institute, added: “Egypt is entering a new era of digital economy with the rapid proliferation of mobile phones and the increasing urge for businesses to digitize their payment experiences. At EBI we are seeking to promote sustainable, inclusive and secure digital commerce that will help drive economic growth and extend the benefits of digital payments to all Egyptians.”
Compared to cash, digital payments are more convenient, reliable and secure and offer a seamless payment experience that cash does not; they also help promote greater financial inclusion, giving those without access to the formal banking system an introduction to formal financial services. According to the Cashless Cities study, conducted by Roubini ThoughtLab and commissioned by Visa to quantify the potential benefits of transitioning to digital payments across 100 cities, the digitization of payments delivers social and economic benefits to consumers, businesses, and government.
In a city like Cairo, the direct annual economic growth generated by digital payments could contribute up to 3.5 percent to the GDP. Whereas, the total estimated annual net benefits for all 100 cities for consumers could amount up to USD 27.8 billion through digital payments. Businesses could also see up to USD 312 billion in savings by processing incoming and outgoing payments more quickly, while government could save up to USD 130 billion thanks to a significant increase in tax revenues due to a better traceability of commercial transactions.
