Not only has the 2022 FIFA World Cup put Qatar on the global stage, but the “world’s greatest show” – hosted for the first time in the Middle East by the LNG-rich Gulf state – also showcased several innovations in the payment space, a Visa official has said.
“Qatar has been a fascinating journey...transactions in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar was 40% higher than the previous edition and 300% higher than the 2014 World Cup,” revealed Akshay Chopra, vice-president, head of Innovation and Design, CEMEA at Visa, the Official Payment Technology Partner of FIFA.
Chopra said Visa also utilised several innovations during the World Cup, including ‘tap on phone’, as well as facial biometrics, which was utilised effectively in food and beverage (F&B) by Flat White Specialty Coffee in Qatar, Chopra told Gulf Times in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the recently-held ‘Visa CEMEA Security Summit’ in Dubai.
“From a commerce and payments perspective, this really became an engine of commerce. Because of facial biometrics, there was no need for Flat White’s customers to take out any wallet or make any physical payment method; you literally just scan your face at the point of sale, and you’re done,” Chopra explained.
Chopra also said “Visa is working with three major banks in Qatar” to industrialise the tap on phone concept. He said this innovation eliminates the need for small merchants to obtain expensive and bulky payment acceptance devices and, instead, they can simply install the application on their mobile phones.
He stressed that Visa is constantly creating comprehensive one-stop solutions for managing business operations, citing tap on phone, which will help empower small business owners to access their inventory, and send payments to customers, suppliers, and employees seamlessly.
“In fact, so many people experienced tap on phone for the first time in Qatar...we’re also working with QIB on a first-of-a-kind ability to send money securely from your account or wallet to another Visa card account, prepaid, debit, credit, or anything.
“Remittance is another big play, so there’s a lot going on in Qatar. Even from the security perspective, we’re innovating. We’re testing new concepts and all of these are next frontiers for security, as well,” Chopra further explained, adding that there is also a “massive potential” in B2B payments.
Asked about Visa’s role in the development of the fintech sector, Chopra said one of the challenges of fintechs in Qatar, the GCC, and elsewhere, is the ability to scale and tap a wider market.
“If you work with a partner like Visa, you can immediately plug into our network of financial institutions of issuers; you can immediately start using a lot of solutions, even from the Innovation Centre, which will reduce your time to market and allow you to build faster and scale faster. So, I think that would be one area where we can certainly support fintechs,” he noted.
On the Qatar FinTech Hub (QFTH), Chopra lauded its establishment, saying organisations like QFTH will help provide a level of quality and validation for its member fintechs.
“In principle, that’s exactly the kind of organisation we would love to partner with because they bring all the fintechs in one place. In general, the emergence of these fintech hubs is an excellent strength because fintech, especially in this region, has the power to genuinely transform people’s lives,” Chopra emphasised.
Asked how Visa is collaborating with its partners, such as banks, fintechs, and merchants to ensure that security is a top priority across the payments industry, Chopra said Visa is working on innovations, such as ‘tokenisation’.
Chopra explained that tokenisation uses cryptography to make one’s card details only valid on specific devices, thus preventing fraud. He said the concept of tokenisation has helped transformed the payments landscape and is becoming more widely adopted in the CEMEA region each year.
“More and more issuers are adopting it, and many customers are increasingly using tokens on their devices, rather than plastic cards. That’s a big one from a tech perspective,” Chopra stressed.
Akshay Chopra, vice-president, head of Innovation and Design, CEMEA at Visa.
