BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 23
By Eldar Janashvili - Trend:
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Azerbaijan observed a decrease in the number of branches of financial institutions, cash turnover, an increase in the number of ATMs and cashless payments, Erdem Chakar, Mastercard Country Manager for Azerbaijan, told Trend.
"Due to the foregoing developments, the opportunities of electronic trade (e-trade) will expand. The changes will not only be observed in the activities of the banks and payment companies, as well as in the behavior of traders and consumers," Chakar said.
Touching upon the situation with tourism and transportation, where cashless transactions are also often used, Chakar assumed that travel will turn become more unplanned and impulsive, and preference will be given more to domestic trips.
Thus, road transport will have a higher demand than air traffic, he stressed.
"The e-trade will become even more popular, and courier deliveries of food and clothing will significantly increase. Initially, some difficulties may be raised. However, those who can adapt will receive a higher market share," said Chakar.
The manager noted that due to the growth of cashless payments during the pandemic period, cybersecurity will become even more important.
During the pandemic period, Mastercard launched a new application that increases the term of use of the card by customers who cannot visit bank branches, he said.
"Also, one of our most important steps is the introduction of the Priceless Specials program, which we use to support our trading network through our personal channels and online investments," added Chakar.
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