Visa to host first Strategic Retailer Congress in MENA

Visa to bring global payments expertise to merchants, acquirers and partners in MENA region
Retailers meet to put spotlight on evolving retail ecosystem driven by innovative payment technologies and data based customer insight

Dubai, UAE, 22 April, 2015 - Visa (NYSE:V), a global payments technology company, is set to host the first Strategic Retailer Congress in the MENA region for retailers, acquirers and industry stakeholders to discuss emerging trends that can enhance the payment experience. 

Scheduled to be held on 30 April, 2015 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai, the Visa Strategic Retailer Congress has been successfully held in regions with fast-growing economies, including South Africa and Asia Pacific. 

As one of the leading payment partners for merchants in the MENA region, Visa believes the forum will set the stage for healthy discourse on crucial issues influencing MENA’s retail industry, including solutions to drive customer loyalty and recruitment, customer protection, and achieving growth through omni-channel convergence, all of which can be enabled through new payment technologies. 

Speaking ahead of the event, Ihab Ayoub, Group Country Manager - MENA at Visa, says: “Innovation is key for merchants in prospering economies these days, and we are witnessing an urgent need to bring game-changing expertise to meet the needs of this region. With local businesses already converted or in the process of crossing over to tap in to the growing digital customer base, payment solutions such as Visa Checkout, Tokenization and mPOS are gaining relevance more than ever before.

“Our objective as a payments technology firm, leading several innovations in the industry, is to reach out to stakeholders and bring them closer to a future-ready payment infrastructure that helps them achieve business growth. We look forward to hosting merchants, acquirers and other partners in the industry, at this first of its kind forum Visa is leading in the region.”

Mohanish Agni, Head of Merchant Sales and Solutions - MENA at Visa, adds: “Merchants in the Middle East are looking to improve their offerings in terms of customer engagement and seamless shopping experiences. The Strategic Retailer Congress is a forum to showcase Visa’s abilities to complement merchant operations through Innovation in Retail, Big Data and Analytics, as well as Fraud and Risk Management.

Through this forum, we hope to set the stage for formal direct engagement with merchants across the region and collaborate in developing a superior consumer experience and facilitate secure and speedy payments. We want to be a key merchant partner in driving business.”

Visa believes the current market offers new opportunities for merchants.  Increased connectivity and use of smart devices are steering consumers towards eCommerce and mCommerce at a faster rate. In addition, as the popularity of social media continues to rise, there have been innovations in retail engagement which leverage data and offer high levels of personalization. 

A huge driver for this trend is the MENA region’s young and affluent population, which could influence retailers’ eCommerce and omni-channel operations. As technological developments and consumer behaviour grow and shift at a rapid pace, Visa aims to build new and reinforce existing partnerships with merchants as retail enters a new wave of modernization.