Innovation In Action: Partnering for Progress
Payments are inherently local and, while common trends emerge, distinct differences in market needs require a tailored approach. At Visa Payments Forum CEMEA 2025, we showcased how innovation thrives when rooted in local relevance.
Through real-world case studies, we explored how Visa partners closely with clients to co-create solutions that reflect the unique needs of diverse markets—meeting consumers where they are, with impact that resonates.
Empowering Financial Inclusion in Pakistan
Despite a population of 241 million, Pakistan has only 91 million unique financial institution accounts—leaving nearly two-fifths of adults outside the formal financial system1. Among them, the 2.4 million students enrolled in higher education represent a powerful, untapped opportunity to foster inclusive economic growth.
Recognizing the limitations of traditional banking in reaching underserved communities, Visa partnered with Meezan Bank to launch Pakistan’s first student debit card – the Meezan Visa Student Debit Card2. Offered free to Meezan Asaan Student Account holders, it provides university students aged 18-24 with secure, convenient digital financial services, while offering discounted fees on domestic transactions.
The pilot, launched in March 2025, quickly saw over 11,800 cards issued, with early spending trends showing a strong preference for e-commerce among Gen Z cardholders. This initiative, projected to issue over 1,000,000 cards within two years, aligns with Pakistan Vision 2025, demonstrating how collaboration and localized solutions can unlock market potential, drive economic growth, and develop responsible financial habits among Pakistan’s youth.
Unlocking Digital Access in the Democratic Republic of Congo
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with its nascent financial ecosystem and high population growth rate, required a truly innovative approach to drive financial inclusion. The country presented a unique challenge: how to provide an end-to-end digital experience that overcomes the high cost of physical cards and peer-to-peer (P2P) money movement.
Access Bank partnered with Visa to introduce Visa Pay, a solution born out of CEMEA to address this specific need. Visa Pay functions as a Payments-Platform-as-a-Service that enables scaling digital payments and addresses the lack of interoperability that often hinders new digital propositions. Visa provided an end-to-end technology platform for a Visa-branded, market-wide mobile app that meets the bank’s requirements. This allows for automated customer acquisition, banking relationship initiation, and virtual card issuance – a game-changer for DRC’s banking industry.
By facilitating interoperable money movement between Visa members, Visa Pay is set to accelerate digital payment growth, making the ambitious goal of converting up to 1 million customers to digital payments an achievable reality.
Seamless and Secure E-Commerce in Qatar
Even in digitally mature markets like the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the pursuit of seamless and secure online experiences is relentless. Visa’s Checkout Friction report highlighted that security concerns and manual card entry are major frustrations for consumers in this region, leading to lost revenue for businesses3.
Recognizing this opportunity to enhance customer experience, Qatar National Bank (QNB), the largest financial institution in CEMEA, partnered with Visa to launch the Click to Pay service, a game-changer for e-commerce. It eliminates the need for repeated card details or passwords, allowing consumers to register once and pay with a single click4. Crucially, it integrates the Visa Payment Passkey Service, leveraging FIDO standards for biometric authentication (face or fingerprint), removing the need for passwords or one-time codes5.
This innovation not only streamlines the checkout process but also significantly enhances security. Early results show a 4% improvement in e-commerce approval rates and a significant 60% decrease in fraud rates, alongside increased customer satisfaction.
Streamlining Social Welfare in Uzbekistan
Beyond the banking sector, Visa solutions support government social programs. Uzbekistan government’s National Agency of Strategic Projects (NASP) ensures that citizens receive social, financial, administrative, and organizational assistance through the Social Card.
Soon to be implemented – Visa Flexible Credentials – will power the Social Card to help control the spending of the disbursed funds under each government program on an automated basis, ensuring funds are used as intended. Together with Oxinus, the innovative system will create separate accounts for each social program with specific rules, preventing misuse and promoting transparency. It will also facilitate a ‘social treasury’, maintaining precise records of services and disbursements. This will not only enhance the transparency of the social protection system but will provide the government with crucial data for budget planning and expenditure forecasts.
Expected to reach 3.5 million people in the first year and 5 million in the second, this transformative project will provide a unified, scalable platform for banks, while building trust between government and citizens.
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1https://development.asia/insight/cash-digital-advancing-financial-inclusion-pakistan
2https://www.meezanbank.com/visa-mbl-partner-to-increase-financial-inclusion/
3https://km.visamiddleeast.com/en_KM/visa-everywhere/blog/bdp/2025/06/02/gcc-consumers-would-1748888877259.html
4https://km.visamiddleeast.com/en_KM/products/click-to-pay/consumers.html#:~:text=Buy%20online%2C%20the%20faster%20and,available%20with%20your%20Visa%20card.
5https://corporate.visa.com/en/sites/visa-perspectives/company-news/visa-payment-passkey-service.html
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