Digital payments leader Visa eyes regional expansion; opens new Lebanon office
- New office is an extension of Visa’s culture of collaboration, innovation, and inclusivity
- Visa commits ongoing support to local partners to drive digitalization of payment landscape in Levant
Beirut, Lebanon, 9 August 2023: Visa (NYSE:V), the world’s digital payments leader has officially inaugurated its new office in Lebanon.
Visa’s expanded on-ground presence in Levant is a testament to its commitment to supporting the company’s financial institution and merchant clients, local government partners, investments and local communities as part of continued efforts to drive digitalization of the payments landscape.
With the new office, Visa aims to strengthen its ongoing talent acquisition strategy by attracting and retaining key talent. Year-on-year, Visa offices in the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan (NALP) region have seen 15% growth in employee evolution.1 The new purpose-built office space is designed entirely around needs of the staff and allows for a hybrid work environment. It is an extension of Visa's culture of collaboration, innovation, and inclusivity.
Cash displacement in the NALP region has accelerated in the last two years despite political and economic instability. Visa expects digital payment adoption to increase much faster in the next few years and is committed to supporting Lebanon’s digital transformation. The company’s many innovative solutions deployed over the years continue to encourage this shift to digital payments in the region. Visa recognizes emerging trends in consumer payment behavior and payment patterns and remains committed to capturing these opportunities in the NALP region.
Visa’s expanded on-ground presence demonstrates its support of the Lebanon and Levant government’s digital commerce agenda, and commitment to working with local banks, businesses and fintechs and even educational institutions including the American University of Beirut to design and deliver the payment options consumers seek and support the development of local talent through Intern and graduate programs.
“As a network that works for everyone, everywhere, Visa’s mission is to drive digital commerce for the benefit of consumers, businesses, and the economy across Levant. As part of our overarching strategy for the NALP market, our new office will enable us to continue collaborations with local financial institution clients, merchants, and fintech partners to develop and deploy efficient, convenient, and secure processes for offline and online commerce. For us at Visa, it is a place where our employees, clients and partners can seamlessly collaborate to create solutions, develop user experiences, and share ideas - all with the goal of helping businesses, individuals and economies thrive,” said Mario Makary, country manager for Levant for Visa.
Visa continues to support the growing payments ecosystem and digital economy in the region by empowering fintechs through partnerships with the Visa Acceptance Cloud and bringing low-cost acceptance solutions like Click to Pay and Tap to Phone for SMBs.
About Visa Inc.
Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions, and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more About Visa, visamiddleeast.com/blog and @Visacemea.