The implementation of open-loop EMV technology would make the passenger experience seamless and reduce travel time by eliminating the need to stand in line to purchase tickets or top up their ticket. Visa will also work with Transport Authority – Government of Ajman to enhance the existing experience on the Masaar card by leveraging Visa technology to enable acceptance of Masaar cards at non-transit merchants.

Dr. Saeeda Jaffar, Visa’s Senior Vice President and Group Country Manager for GCC, said, “Visa is delighted to work with the Transport Authority – Government of Ajman to drive the adoption of digital payments in transport, especially as we see the entire UAE moving towards a cashless economy. As social distancing and low-touch payments become the new norm, Visa’s open-loop transit model has seen great results around the world.”

Ms. Rasha Al Shamsi, Transport Authority – Government of Ajman Acting Director General, said, “We aim to introduce the smart and safe payment solution to the users of the public transport and enhance the digital economy by encouraging the public to use the modern payment methods, believing in the continuous development of services and adding value to our customers, we will work with Visa to extend the benefits of current ATAs Masaar Transit Card.”

Nearly all (92%) consumers in the UAE say COVID-19 have permanently changed their payment habits (compared to 68% globally). Nearly three in four (73%) UAE consumers would not shop at a store that does not accept contactless payments (compared to 44% globally). One in three (33% vs. 21% globally) UAE consumers have not used cash in the last week, the second-highest among all markets.

More than half (56% vs. 33% globally) of UAE consumers say they are at least somewhat more likely to shop in person compared to last summer, the highest among all markets.

Unlocking Access to the Digital Economy

Recognizing that greater digitization of commerce can bring enormous benefits to small businesses, Visa has continued to deepen and localize its commitment to SMBs in the UAE over the last 18 months to help them revitalize and reinvent their businesses.

Visa claimed, it has:

• been working with several UAE banks to pilot Tap to Phone solutions that make it easier for local merchants to accept payments using only an Android smartphone;
• launched ADCB Pace Pay – UAE’s first virtual point of sale (POS) payment terminal with ADCB on both android and iOS platforms;
• rolled out the “Rapid Seller Onboarding” to enable SMBs to accept digital payments from their customers in-store/at point-of-sale or online within just seven working days;
• And conducted targeted studies such as Small Business Recovery and launched the Stay Secure campaign – in collaboration with DED and Dubai Police – intending to understand regional SME painpoints and provide actionable insights to small businesses.

“With an 18-month view into the pandemic now, we have seen that small businesses that have embraced digital commerce and cross-border selling have generally weathered the pandemic and that seemingly small pivots toward digital commerce can continue to make the difference between a small business surviving and thriving,” said Shahebaz Khan, Visa’s General Manager for the UAE.

Methodology: Visa Back to Business Study

The Visa Back to Business Study: 5^th Edition, was conducted by Wakefield Research between June 15-28, 2021, among 2,250 small business owners at companies with 100 employees or fewer in Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Russia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, and the United States.

The 2015 World Forums highlighted three key themes:

• Awaken — which highlighted the opportunities across all industries, identified multiple business cases, and helped customers discover the competitive advantages that IoT can bring
• Activate — which covered laying out roadmaps to IoT deployments, best practices and learnings from customer IoT case studies
• Accelerate —focused on moving the industry forward quickly, and highlighted the roles that service providers and application developers must play in enabling this speed

In addition to the keynotes, the World Forum also featured breakout sessions, a hackathon, a startup showcase, and smart-city tours of Dubai.John Chambers, Executive Chairman of the Board at Cisco met with the country’s leadership, key government officials, regional customers and media and delivered a keynote on how the IoT is creating a new world of possibilities through digitization.

The event saw more than 25 customers presenting on how IoT has changed their business. Through Dubai Smart City Experience Tours, attendees were able to learn first-hand how Dubai, one of the most digitally advanced cities in the world, has connected transportation, education and healthcare across the city for a better citizen experience.

A special bus tour was arranged to the Dubai Design District (D3), which has implemented a wide spectrum of smart solutions and applicationsthat use IoT technologies, which include lighting solutions, clean energy, surveillance cameras as well as environment sensors to measure carbon dioxide to limit emissions. These applications are instrumental in making Dubai Design District one of the green fields for IoT and Smart and Connect Cities solutions.

The IoTWF 2015 also featured a Research and Innovation Symposium, where some of the world’s leading technology researchers and scholars talked about the New Frontiers of IoT research enabling a connected world.

 

The World Forum held an IoT Hackathon – a learning session and coding competition, which took place on the weekend preceding IoTWF. The Cisco Innovation Grand Challenge, which recognizes, promotes, and accelerates the adoption of breakthrough IoT technologies and products, brought together six amazing startups to Dubai to compete for their share of $250,000 in cash prizes. These six finalists, who were narrowed down from15 semi-finalists, got an opportunity to give their pitches live, on stage before the closing ceremony.  The winners for the IoT Hackathon and Cisco Innovation Grand Challenge were announced during the event.