On Wednesday this week, Visa hosted the media and finance industry players for a tour of its Innovation Studio, and later a panel discussion on the future of payments. The Visa Innovation Studio is a space created to offer its partners opportunities to co-create future solutions for commerce. The studio which is testament of Visa’s commitment to Africa serves the sub-Saharan Africa region and joins a network of innovation centers operated by Visa since 2016 in cities including Dubai, Singapore and San Francisco.
Over the last few decades, shopping habits have evolved rapidly, driven by changes in customer behavior, technological advances, and the growing popularity of smart phones and wearable tech. This shift in shopping habits has paved the way for a future of payments that is increasingly digital, seamless, and personalized.
Fueled to a large extent by the level of hygiene that Covid19 demanded, contactless payment has also become quite popular, widely adopted in various sectors including retail, public transportation, and hospitality. At the Visa Innovation Studio for instance, this was the pillar of all the innovations that have been created by Visa partners.
A year plus later, it was great to see the developments at the studio so far, and to watch the partners demonstrate their services which I found very relatable. Here are some of the institutions that showcased their solutions.
Absa Bank
With an aim to enhance financial inclusion and digitize small merchants, Absa is in partnership with Visa to run a payment system to enable SMEs to use their phones as points of sale and to receive payments. Through Absa’s Mobi Pay app, merchants also have access to banking services, loans, transaction management and Visa’s digital payment solutions. This puts them on a path to growth and integration into the formal economy.
Little
Cab hailing app Little has already integrated Visa’s transport solution into their network and as demonstrated at the studio tour, customers will pay easily through tap and pay after the official launch in the coming weeks. This solution befits the cab industry because being cash free enhances safety by reducing risk of theft and loss associated with physical money. Digital transactions are traceable and technologies like encryption and biometrics ensure secure payments.
Loop
As a digital super wallet designed to centralize money management, Loop is right at home with Visa to offer users connection to multiple bank cards under their app. This partnership empowers customers to efficiently oversee all their payments from a single platform, eliminating the need to carry multiple cards. The partnership also opens up a vast network of over 50 million merchants to users.
KCB
KCB Bank demonstrated their tap to pay solution in partnership with Visa, which will allow users to make payments by tapping their phones or wearable tech. The power of this cannot be underestimated because it can basically make any phone POS, as long as it is NFC enabled.
As for network security, Visa moves millions of transactions per second and recognizes the risk of cyber-attacks. Towards this, they have invested in competent personnel and sophisticated technology to detect and deter any breaches. In the recent incidences against Government and financial institutions, Visa was not affected but they used their knowledge and experience to support partners who may have detected attacks.