Covid-19: Contactless payments continue to rise in UAE, GCC

Covid-19: Contactless payments continue to rise in UAE, GCC

Digital payments firm working to enable acceptance of cards on public transportation systems.

Mattar Mohammed Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), with other officials at the final ceremony. Supplied photo.

Published: Tue 8 Feb 2022, 6:24 PM

Contactless payments continue to rise in the UAE and the Gulf following the outbreak of the pandemic and the regional countries lead the world in frictionless payments, 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.

“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.

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