BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 9. Mastercard announced its intentions to achieve 60 percent digitalization of payments in Azerbaijan, Mastercard told Trend this week.
"Our main goal is the digitization of the economy. Today the digitalization of personal consumption expenditures in Azerbaijan is 30 percent, and we want to bring it to the average European level of 60 percent. To achieve this goal, firstly, we aim to simplify card issuance by applying digital acquisition and digital cards. This means that you, as a consumer, will increasingly become a bank customer through digital channels and, moreover, access digital cards in your wallets," said Avsar Gurdal Mastercard's General Manager for Türkiye & Azerbaijan.
It's a very simple experience, isn't it? We want to make sure that these kinds of value propositions and mobile and NFC payments in the marketplace continue to evolve. We want to make sure it's in the best interest of consumers. To this end, we are introducing value propositions for consumers related to NFC payments, such as discounts in restaurants, grocery stores and other sectors, to encourage consumers to increasingly use their digital wallets to pay," he added.
Gurdal also emphasized that Mastercard is actively working on activating mobile number money transfers in Azerbaijan, and Mastercard is currently cooperating with the International Bank of Azerbaijan (ABB) on this issue.
"Masterpass is a solution that allows customers to transfer money by cell phone number, rethinking the usual process. For example, you can transfer money by entering the recipient's cell phone number directly from your smartphone without entering the 16-digit bank card number. Recipients will receive the money into their bank account by entering only their phone number. This greatly simplifies the process for mutual comfort. We have made it possible to transfer money using information that already exists - the cell phone number," Guardal said.
"Bank card information is encrypted in the background, and transactions are made via Masterpass. Security comes first here. In fact, we have introduced Masterpass to simplify e-commerce in Azerbaijan. However, this solution will not be limited to e-commerce, it will also be applicable for money transfers. Masterpass will be used not only for money transfer transactions between Azerbaijani banks, but also for sending money to bank accounts registered in Türkiye and other countries using a cell phone number. What advantages should be expected? Money transfers both inside and outside the country will be processed in the same way, which will make life easier for customers. We are currently actively working on this matter," he said.
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