VISA: Azerbaijan - one of financial markets most open to innovation

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 18

By Eldar Janashvili - Trend:

Azerbaijan is one of financial markets most open to innovation, VISA Regional Director for the South Caucasus Kristina Dorosh told Trend.

Dorosh noted that on the one hand, such openness of the Azerbaijani market is conditioned by the fact that people in the country are open to innovations, they are interested in using new tools, and on the other hand, because the regulators in Azerbaijan - the Central Bank, the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communications - are technologically developed structures, where the employees understand that it is important to expand the introduction of cashless payments in the country, which is proven by the Visa Cashless Forum held in Azerbaijan.

VISA regional director added that the corporation is very actively cooperating with these regulators on the implementation of the current program, the purpose of which is to increase the number of cashless payments, contributing to the transition of economy from the “gray zone” to the “white zone”, in the conditions of which the money passes the necessary accounting and control, enter bank accounts, taxes are paid from them, and then pensions are paid from these taxes, and so on.

“VISA works to maximize the volume of non-cash payments and carries this out in various ways, from technologies like contactless payments and tokenization services, to various marketing moves and loyalty campaigns,” Dorosh said. “All this contributes to increase in the number of non-cash payments; thus, we are one of the key partners of the state in the development of a cashless economy.”