Contactless payments continue to rise in UAE, GCC

Contactless payments is continuing to rise in the UAE and GCC after the outbreak of the pandemic, said a senior official Visa, a world leader in digital payments.

Melvin Andrew Joseph, Visa’s Head of Merchant Sales and Acquiring for UAE, said globally Visa is working to enable acceptance for cards for the public transportation system.

While speaking during a panel discussion on the last day of the fourth edition of the Mena Transport Congress and Exhibition 2022 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, He stated that consumers are looking at safer and more hygienic solutions during the pandemic.

According to Visa’s latest study, contactless payments are among the highest in the region as out of total digital payments, 94 per cent are contactless in Saudi Arabia, 92 per cent in the UAE, and 81 per cent in Kuwait.

“There is a lot of interest coming in and vendors are showing so much interest in using Visa card to tap to pay for any public transportation system,” he added.

“Be it a bus or metro, in addition to the existing smart card which is transit-specific, you will also be able to use your Visa card to pay for your ride. We are working on 700 projects globally, out of which 450 are live. In the GCC, we expect few countries to go live this year,” said Joseph.