{"id":673944,"date":"2025-10-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2025\/10\/21\/the-war-for-the-future-of-payments\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T00:00:00","slug":"the-war-for-the-future-of-payments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2025\/10\/21\/the-war-for-the-future-of-payments\/","title":{"rendered":"The war for the future of payments"},"content":{"rendered":"

For many aroun<\/strong>d the world, Visa is just a logo on a card. In Egypt, it is to <\/strong>\u2018non-cash payment\u2019 as Kleenex is to the word \u201ctissue.\u201d<\/strong> Go to pay in just about any shop, and you\u2019re not asked \u201cCash or card?\u201d but \u201cCash or Visa?\u201d That\u2019s the kind of brand dominance marketers dream of, and it\u2019s been built over nearly 70 years of being the invisible rails for consumer payments.<\/p>\n

Visa is the biggest player in a messy global war over the future of payments. <\/strong>And every fintech founder and her brother on a \u201cmission\u201d to \u201crevolutionize\u201d the very definition of money (for the betterment of the \u201cecosystem,\u201d of course), the plastic in your wallet is no longer the central actor \u2014 electrons are. <\/p>\n

The war for the future of payments is unfolding on three fronts:<\/strong> First, there are the sovereigns: Governments, particularly in emerging markets, are building their own payment rails. Saudi Arabia has Mada, and Egypt has Meeza and the InstaPay network. They all look at India\u2019s UPI with envy, eager to control their own financial destiny, boost inclusion, and, yes, have a say on the fees. UPI, launched just nine years ago, processes even more real-time payments (640 mn a day) than does Visa (639 mn)<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Next, there\u2019s the infrastructure front:<\/strong> The massive, clunky, and wildly inefficient worlds of business-to-business (B2B) payments and cross-border remittances \u2014 still largely reliant on slow, expensive networks like SWIFT \u2014 are the next big frontier.<\/p>\n

And third, the \u201csci-fi\u201d front \u2014 the stuff of which OpenAI\u2019s Sam Altman and his buddies dream.<\/strong> The rails themselves are being challenged by stablecoins<\/a> promising 24\/7 settlement and agentic commerce<\/a>, a future where the robot does it all for you: Your AI assistant books and pays for your holiday in one seamless, embedded transaction.<\/p>\n

How does the 800-pound gorilla of the old map plan to win this new war? <\/strong>We sat down with Tareq Muhmood, Visa\u2019s new regional president for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA), to find out. In one of his first interviews since taking on the role, Muhmood laid out a vision for \u201cVisa as a platform\u201d \u2014 a company that has \u201cunbundled\u201d its decades of tech to offer clients everything from risk and anti-fraud services to core infrastructure, even for its new government-backed competitors. Joining us for the wide-ranging conversation were Leila Serhan, senior vice president and group country manager for North Africa, Levant, and Pakistan, and Malak El Baba, who runs Visa\u2019s business in Egypt. <\/p>\n

Edited excerpts from our conversation:<\/strong><\/p>\n

ACT I: WHAT\u2019S CEMEA, REALLY?<\/p>\n

ENTERPRISE: You\u2019ve lived and worked in 13 countries. You\u2019re now running CEMEA, which strikes me as three very different territories: Central Europe, the Gulf, and Africa. How do you run a region that diverse?<\/strong><\/p>\n

TAREQ MUHMOOD (TM):<\/strong> It\u2019s a great question. I find there are a lot more similarities than differences. People want convenience, they want speed, they want transparency, whether you\u2019re a merchant or a consumer. That really shapes our strategy.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the execution is always very local. We have amazing people that sit on the ground. We just opened an office in Tanzania, for example, because we recognize that the payments ecosystem in that country needs more regular, intense connections. We\u2019re opening an office in Kuwait with 12 people.<\/p>\n

And here in Egypt, we were just talking about the size of our team. It\u2019s grown from 15 people a few years ago to over 105 now. That\u2019s not going to go down anytime soon.<\/p>\n

LEILA SERHAN (LS):<\/strong> One of the really interesting things we\u2019ve done at Visa is build what we call \u201cmarket archetypes.\u201d We look across the world and ask, \u2018Which markets behave alike?' For example, the UK might have more in common with Australia than with Poland \u2014 and in the same way, Egypt has a lot in common with parts of Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n

That lens helps us decide what to prioritize in each place. In Egypt and similar markets, it\u2019s about building \u2014 creating relevant solutions for every segment, from large banks to the smallest sellers. And you\u2019d be surprised by how agile many of these markets are \u2014 in some cases, even more agile than the \u201cadvanced\u201d economies.<\/p>\n

ENTERPRISE: Tareq, what\u2019s one thing an outsider would be surprised by across your territory?<\/strong><\/p>\n

TM:<\/strong> Especially for someone coming from Europe or North America, it\u2019s how mobile wallets are amazingly exciting and how they\u2019re having an impact. We were in Kenya last week, and you see how that\u2019s become very much a part of the ecosystem. I was in Ivory Coast not long ago, and those mobile operators have done a phenomenal job in complementing their telco networks by offering financial capability as well.<\/p>\n

WHAT IS VISA, ANYWAY?<\/p>\n

ENTERPRISE: To understand how you\u2019re tackling the new battlegrounds, we need to understand what Visa is today. For readers who only know the logo, how does Visa actually make money?<\/strong><\/p>\n

TM:<\/strong> It\u2019s by facilitating payments, essentially, and then surrounding that with the right capabilities to make sure that payment is transparent, secure, and you can use the data to provide better payment experiences. It\u2019s a stack of technology services we provide to clients who want to use it to provide their clients with a great experience.<\/p>\n

ENTERPRISE: <\/strong>I won\u2019t say we\u2019re clinging to our bills, but Egypt is still a society in which cash is quite central. How does that inform strategy for you? We can\u2019t be the only market that\u2019s like this\u2026<\/p>\n

TM:<\/strong>I still remember when travelers checks were a thing\u2026 Look, I think it\u2019s about the evolution of what I think of as the \u201ccustomer experience of payments,\u201d which is evolving incredibly rapidly. If someone left the planet in the early 1990s and came back now? They wouldn\u2019t recognize it: Contactless payments. E-commerce. Now agentic commerce is just getting off the ground. <\/p>\n

ENTERPRISE: You talk about Visa as a \u201cnetwork of networks\u201d. What does that mean in practice?<\/strong><\/p>\n

TM:<\/strong> I\u2019ll give you a real example. If you went to China five years ago, you would struggle to pay with a card outside the normal hotels or restaurants because WeChat and Alipay QR were dominant.<\/p>\n

Over the last two or three years, we\u2019ve gone live where, in the WeChat or Alipay app, you can actually insert your Visa credential. You put in your Visa card details, and now you can use the Visa credential through the Alipay app or through WeChat to pay at any location you want around China.<\/p>\n

Being a \u201cnetwork of networks\u201d is about accepting that we\u2019re not going to be at every potential location, but we\u2019re that network of networks that can connect to make sure every single merchant can be connected to every single consumer.<\/p>\n

ENTERPRISE: So what are the big drivers of the business for you? You\u2019re not just selling cards anymore.<\/strong><\/p>\n

TM:<\/strong> It\u2019s really across three main areas. One is the journey of creating efficient and beautiful payment experiences. This is our core. It includes expanding contactless payments onto transit systems or improving tokenization to make e-commerce smoother and more secure.<\/p>\n

The second growth driver is managing risk. As e-commerce grows, and as many countries launch real-time payment \u2014 or RTP \u2014 systems, along with that comes fraud. We see a rise in fraud, whether it\u2019s fake links or other scams, so we\u2019re really adapting our risk solutions to not only protect Visa payments, but to also protect all types of payments. Clients have been adopting our technology for different purposes than what we imagined years ago.<\/p>\n

The final one, which excites me, is agility. Many of our clients are really struggling with their technology stacks. Because of compliance requirements, or because they need to innovate really quickly. We had a client that wanted to launch a new proposition. If they used their own in-house technology, it would have taken two years to build. By leveraging what we bought and built as Visa, they were able to go live in three or four months.<\/p>\n

ENTERPRISE:<\/strong> This is the new thesis, then. It\u2019s not just a card network \u2014 it\u2019s a modular tech company.<\/p>\n

TM:<\/strong> Exactly. What\u2019s really exciting is that Visa has evolved. The stack of our technology that\u2019s been built over 60 years has been unbundled. Depending on what your needs are \u2014 whether it\u2019s risk, or infrastructure, or processing for Visa or non-Visa payments \u2014 there are different modules that you can pick and choose from our stack. It\u2019s Visa as a platform.<\/p>\n

THE NEW BATTLEGROUNDS<\/p>\n

ENTERPRISE: Let\u2019s talk about those new battlegrounds. You have governments in this region launching their own payment schemes, like Mada in Saudi and Meeza in Egypt. They\u2019re encroaching on your space. They look at UPI in India and think, \u201cHmm\u2026 we want some of that.\u201d How do you work with sovereigns in cases like this?<\/strong><\/p>\n

TM:<\/strong> I\u2019ve been on a journey with this. My mindset is, I\u2019m thrilled. I\u2019m thrilled that every country has an agenda to drive digital payments. The more digital payments there are, the more transparency and inclusion there is.<\/p>\n

There are two approaches. One is, we can help. We do actually help in some countries where they need risk advice or cybersecurity advice, because every payment system is vulnerable. At the same time, we\u2019ll continue to focus on building the network Visa\u2019s been building for more than 65 years. I think it should be welcomed that local digital payment systems exist.<\/p>\n

LS:<\/strong> You\u2019ve mentioned Meeza here in Egypt and Instapay. It is actually benefiting our business as well, because it\u2019s opening up opportunities for more financial inclusion and digitization. There are a lot of discussions we\u2019re having with the central bank and other regulators on how we can cooperate together, specifically on the risk part.<\/p>\n

ENTERPRISE: Where is the most interesting white space for growth as government-backed companies get into the financial inclusion game?<\/strong><\/p>\n

TM:<\/strong> There is just an abundance of opportunity. I\u2019ll give you two real examples. First, many banks around the region continue to use SWIFT as the primary way of sending money. I have two sons in Sydney. For me to send them money via SWIFT, it takes maybe four days. And if I send USD 700, they\u2019ll receive USD 650 because of correspondent banking charges.<\/p>\n

The other day, I was talking to my son on Snapchat, and he told me, \u201cDad, I need USD 700\u201d. While I was speaking to him, I was able to open up my bank app and send him USD 700 on Visa Direct, on our rails. He received it within four seconds of me hitting \u2018send.\u2019 It\u2019s from a bank account to another bank account, but using Visa\u2019s rails. And there\u2019s maybe a USD 3 charge for that payment, but he received exactly what I sent him. We\u2019re going to see that become a very normal payment experience, even on a Sunday.<\/p>\n

ENTERPRISE: And the second one?<\/strong><\/p>\n

TM:<\/strong> The second one that I find really exciting is that there are still huge inefficiencies in B2B payments. When companies pay each other, whether it\u2019s supply chains or contractors \u2026 when a building contractor needs to pay the subcontractors, it\u2019s a very clunky method. The digitization of that has a huge growth opportunity.<\/p>\n

LS:<\/strong> I would double down on the remittances. We know how important they are for these economies. In my own country, Lebanon, 50% of the GDP is remittances. People sending money back home. And I think what we\u2019ve done with Visa Direct and Visa Plus, sending money mobile-to-mobile, push-to-a-wallet, push-to-an-account \u2026 It is a game changer for these markets.<\/p>\n

ENTERPRISE: So the white space is more B2B now than financial inclusion?<\/strong><\/p>\n

LS:<\/strong> There is so much financial inclusion to be done in these markets \u2014 financial inclusion is B2B and B2C. Don\u2019t only think of individuals \u2014 think of the small-scale sellers. Whether it\u2019s one person at home baking cookies or an artisan or a small shop, they\u2019re hungry to get the right financial services.<\/p>\n

TM:<\/strong> Many people think of this as a financing need, when it\u2019s not. A lot of the need is just transactional \u2014 they just need to be able to pay their suppliers and receive money as fast as possible.<\/p>\n

LS:<\/strong> And we\u2019ve seen mobile operators getting into this. I know a mobile operator in Pakistan that disperses more than 100k loans a day at an average ticket of between USD 5 and USD 10. Because that\u2019s exactly what these macro-nano merchants need \u2014 he needs to put in petrol, he needs to top-up his mobile data or whatever. The mobile operators have the data to do that, and they\u2019re taking this risk.<\/p>\n

THE FUTURE OF THE RAILS<\/p>\n

ENTERPRISE:<\/strong> Let\u2019s turn now to the future of the rails themselves. I asked about Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and whether they\u2019re a threat.<\/p>\n

TM:<\/strong>I feel that conversation has almost moved on to stablecoins much more than CBDCs, and how stablecoins can facilitate a more efficient payment system. We\u2019re heavily engaged.<\/p>\n

[Editor\u2019s note: While Muhmood is bullish on the potential of stablecoins, his optimism comes at a moment of deep regulatory friction. Just this week, Chinese authorities reportedly tapped the brakes on stablecoin plans from Ant Group and JD.com<\/a>, highlighting the exact sovereign anxieties Visa will have to navigate.]<\/p>\n

ENTERPRISE: Where will I really use a stablecoin? By definition, it\u2019s pegged to the USD or another currency, so why am I going outside a bank to use a stablecoin instead of just paying by bank using fiat currency?<\/strong><\/p>\n

TM:<\/strong> You\u2019ll see it in a lot of countries, mostly where foreign-exchange restrictions are impacting the ability to move money. It\u2019s just a convenient method to allow people to send money to each other. The other use case is really where people need settlement seven days a week, so you don\u2019t need the clearing houses to be open. Stablecoin gives you that transparency plus the ability to transact 24\/7. <\/p>\n

ENTERPRISE: Moving even deeper into the sci-fi stuff, we have agentic commerce\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

TM:<\/strong> It reminds me of my first time opening up \u2026 what was the first browser?<\/p>\n

ENTERPRISE: Netscape Navigator.<\/strong><\/p>\n

TM:<\/strong> Netscape Navigator. That first time it opened up and you start thinking, \u201cOh my God, what is this?\u201d I feel agentic commerce is at that chapter or stage. Think about it: Right now, you search your holiday plans, and whichever AI is giving you recommendations of which hotels to stay at, that\u2019s where the journey ends. The payment experience is still something you have to get out of that and go and do. Where the future is going is a completely embedded experience, but within parameters that you set, where you as a consumer feel safe and the merchant also feels safe.<\/p>\n

ENTERPRISE But if I\u2019m a boutique hotel, I want that direct relationship. I want the customer to come to my site, join my loyalty program. Won\u2019t this disintermediate me?<\/strong><\/p>\n

TM:<\/strong> It will sometimes, but it\u2019s similar to \u2026 you walk around a shopping mall in Singapore, and they still sell beautiful fountain pens in the digital age. That will still exist. I\u2019m sure in 15 years, there\u2019ll still be travel boutiques that create great experiences. But there\u2019ll be a huge amount of commercial transactions happening through agentic commerce where the robot does the shopping as well.<\/p>\n

ENTERPRISE: Agentic feels \u2026 early, I guess I would say. <\/strong><\/p>\n

TM:<\/strong>It is, but similar to the launch of the internet and payments there, it's also going to take a few chapters before agentic commerce is a beautiful experience. But that train's left the station, and we\u2019ll play a big part there. All around the world, people want convenience, they want speed, they want transparency \u2014 whether they\u2019re the merchant or the consumer.<\/p>\n

ENTERPRISE:<\/strong> Okay, last question. I have a college-age daughter. What are you telling your kids to study?<\/p>\n

TM:<\/strong>I\u2019m trying to teach them how to keep learning, rather than what to learn. They\u2019ve got to learn how to be adaptable. I think it\u2019s got to be behavioral, rather than what to study. That\u2019s where I go.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Every day brings a new challenge. Accepting digital payments can help many businesses to get ahead and access global markets.In a recent study, Visa found that over half of Egyptian SMBs surveyed had integrated digital payments within the last two years.55% of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A MESSAGE FROM VISA"","block_context":{"text":"A MESSAGE FROM VISA","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/category\/a-message-from-visa\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/9\/922.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":660465,"url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2025\/02\/12\/the-top-trends-shaping-payments-in-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":673944,"position":1},"title":"The top trends shaping payments in 2025","author":"enterpriseam admin","date":"12 February 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Payments are becoming increasingly digital, flexible and driven by consumer choice. As non-cash transactions surge toward an estimated USD 2.8 tn by 2028, a transformation toward instant, streamlined, secure payments is taking place.HERE\u2019S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW-AI will be transformational, reducing fraud and personalizing payment experiences: In the last\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A MESSAGE FROM VISA"","block_context":{"text":"A MESSAGE FROM VISA","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/category\/a-message-from-visa\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/2\/1056.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":683990,"url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2026\/03\/03\/from-biometric-checkouts-to-cashs-exit-top-2026-payments-trends-part-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":673944,"position":2},"title":"From biometric checkouts to cash\u2019s exit: top 2026 payments trends, part 2","author":"enterpriseam admin","date":"3 March 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2026, manual guest checkout continues to decline as biometric authentication becomes more common. Typing 16-digit card numbers is increasingly replaced by fingerprint or facial verification. Guest checkout now represents 16% of Visa online transactions, down from nearly 50% in 2019.Cash usage continues to narrow as digital payments gain share.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A MESSAGE FROM VISA"","block_context":{"text":"A MESSAGE FROM VISA","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/category\/a-message-from-visa\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2026\/3\/88.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":671927,"url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2025\/09\/16\/what-happens-when-businesses-go-digital-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":673944,"position":3},"title":"What happens when businesses go digital?","author":"enterpriseam admin","date":"16 September 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Businesses that accept digital payments can become a powerful engine for economic growth.Transitioning from cash to digital payments can generate annual GDP gains of 1% to 2%.Globally, increased card usage (debit, credit, and prepaid) added USD 245 bn to real GDP between 2015 and 2019. Across 70 countries and territories\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A MESSAGE FROM VISA"","block_context":{"text":"A MESSAGE FROM VISA","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/category\/a-message-from-visa\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/9\/822.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":643140,"url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2017\/08\/30\/credit-card-payments-at-the-post-office\/","url_meta":{"origin":673944,"position":4},"title":"Credit card payments at the post office","author":"enterpriseam admin","date":"30 August 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The National Postal Authority, Banque Misr, and Visa signed an MoU that will allow Banque Misr to extend some services through post offices around the country, according to an ICT Ministry statement. The agreement, a step forward in the way of financial inclusion, will see Banque Misr add more ATMs\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Banking + Finance"","block_context":{"text":"Banking + Finance","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/category\/banking-finance\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/internal\/536550.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":563946,"url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/07\/29\/e-payments-confidence-has-grown-sevenfold-since-the-covid-19-outbreak-says-visa\/","url_meta":{"origin":673944,"position":5},"title":"E-payments confidence has grown sevenfold since the covid-19 outbreak, says Visa","author":"enterpriseam admin","date":"29 July 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Confidence in e-payments is rising, says Visa study: E-payments have increased sevenfold in Egypt since the start of the pandemic as more Egyptians sidestep cash, according to a new Visa study (pdf) tracking consumer behavior. 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