MasterCard President of South Asia, Middle East and Africa (SAMEA) outlines global payment trends and their impact on the region at Cards Middle East

Addressing an audience of senior bankers, payment solutions providers and analysts during the opening session of Cards Middle East 2005, keynote speaker, Sonny Sannon, president of MasterCard International's South Asia, Middle East and Africa region (SAMEA), explained how change in the financial services industry is being driven by increased globalization and consolidation.

The Middle East tends to follow the European model where customers are offered banking services first and then card services. This is in contrast to the US and Japan, where the population of cardholders far exceeds the number of those with a bank account. There is therefore a significant opportunity in the Middle East for banks to offer their customers sophisticated payment products.

"Banks should, through processes such as data mining, strive to establish the needs of their customers and then deploy technology and innovation to come up with a value proposition that addresses those needs," said Sannon.

"Most forms of electronic payments are showing double digit growth. Internet penetration rates in the Middle East are only half that of the rest of the world but growth is twice as fast. Banks in the Middle East need to upgrade their technology to ensure that both cardholders and merchants experience efficient, secure and risk free transactions" added Sannon.

"Globalization will bring international card companies to the Middle East and Middle East banks must be ready to compete effectively," concluded Sannon.