First CEMEA Visa Security Summit to underscore need to enhance safety in payments ecosystem

Three-day summit to bring together regional industry stakeholders to discuss payments security through innovation

Dubai, UAE: 28 April, 2015 – Visa (NYSE:V), a global payments technology company, will welcome around 200 participants from the industry at the first ever Visa Security Summit for the Central Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) region, to discuss the latest innovations that are transforming electronic payments globally.

Running from 28 to 30 April, under the theme ‘Enhancing Security through Innovation’, the Summit will be a key opportunity for stakeholders involved in risk management to exchange ideas about security challenges facing the payments industry. 

Examining the new trends in the global payments ecosystem, the Visa Security Summit will address opportunities to minimise associated risks and the possibility of fraud. New technologies such as tokenization, Host Card Emulation (HCE) and mobile payments are some of the top areas that will be in focus at the Summit.

Experts from Visa’s global and regional offices will also look to discuss the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS), a basic set of technical and operational requirements for protecting cardholder data applicable to all entities involved in payment card processing, and showcase the firm’s anti-money laundering program and other initiatives to enhance payment security. 

“We are on the threshold of a new and exciting era in payments, with a number of never-before innovations for payment systems coming to the fore. As these innovations enter the industry, it is imperative to evaluate and address any potential threat of fraud in real-time. We are happy to bring together a wide selection of industry decision-makers to become a part of the conversation on risk management, while at the same time equip them with the necessary tools to control and combat fraud even before it occurs,” says Hector Rodriguez, Regional Risk Officer, CEMEA, at Visa Inc.

Visa has made huge strides in creating secure payment systems across all platforms, and is at the forefront of advocating data security and fraud prevention measures that go beyond industry standards. Through technological innovation, the firm has reduced global fraud rates to near historic lows, with less than six cents per $100 transacted, even as Visa card transaction volumes are on the rise. 

“We have been able to foster an environment of safe and secure transactions by ensuring end-to-end risk management that involves the cooperation of all the stakeholders in the payment ecosystem. Through the Visa Security Summit, we look forward to continuing this important dialogue and building partnerships with all stakeholders to maintain secure payments in the region,” Rodriguez added.

The Visa Security Summit is being held at the Grand Hyatt Dubai, and will include ‘Meet the Expert’ sessions for merchants, issuers and acquirers, regulatory discussions and a Law Enforcement Workshop for select participants.