PayerMax put the spotlight on the importance of public private partnerships to accelerate the digital economy at Seamless Middle East 2022. In a keynote address, Sianna Wu, Senior Vice President, MEA of PayerMax underlined the role of digital payments in the digitized economy vision of countries in the Middle East.

The 100% digitized economy is set to add $1.6 trillion to MENA’s GDP and facilitate a 46% growth in GDP per capita. Digital payments industry will play a key role in the digital economy by supporting the regional and national agenda of a cashless society whilst offering transparency, efficiency and convenience.

Wu said that consumers’ fast-evolving purchase habits, consumption behaviors and expectations are defined by the creator economy — where individual personality, reputation and self-actualization via the world’s largest online platforms anchor their daily demands of technology, and payment methods. Digital payment systems act as a fundamental infrastructure to support the development and accelerate the maturity of such emerging digital economies by making payments easier and convenient and, therefore, facilitate consumption to stimulate economic growth.

As digital payments become the norm, Wu believes public private partnerships to be the way forward. She outlined three partnerships pillars that will define and future-proof the digital payment landscape and cause behavioral paradigm shift at scale – public private partnerships, omni-method payments and working together to facilitate trust.

Through partnerships with local regulators, licensed financial institutions and telecom operators – global payment companies are able to unlock borderless growth by globalizing and scaling local payment methods, which in turn fuels the three-sided ecosystem of merchants and users to transact within a safe, robust and compliant environment.

On the other hand, MENA and Gulf countries have one of the world's highest smart phone penetration rates, far outpacing the growth of bank account penetration. Hence, it is critical for payment companies to partner and support private-sector alternative payment methods that ensure maximum financial inclusivity. For any merchant or payment company enabling the ecosystem in the region, it is imperative to partner with alternative payment institutions to secure the digital future of society.

Wu concluded by reiterating that payment companies, creator economy-merchants, providers and regulators can act to encourage consumers to adopt cashless payments.  By working together as an ecosystem to promote highly recognized and trusted payment institutions in the region – such as trusted local banks, locally issued debit cards or telco-operated wallets – partners can lower the barrier to trial for first time digital payment users.

At Seamless Middle East 2022, PayerMax presented its unified omni-method payment solution and partnership program to ecosystem and digital payments innovators whilst demonstrating the platform’s ability to offer enhanced speed, flexibility, and scale.

For more information about PayerMax, please visit: www.payermax.com 

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