Visa Celebrates 40 Years in Turkey, Highlights Economic Contributions

Visa recently celebrated its 40th anniversary in Turkey with a special event held in Istanbul, where the company evaluated its contributions to the Turkish economy and the innovative payment solutions emerging from the country. Visa, one of the world's leading payment technology companies, marked this milestone by reflecting on its technology transfers and the innovative payment solutions developed in Turkey. The event saw the participation of Visa Turkey General Manager Samile Mumin, Visa Turkey Deputy General Manager Lacin Oge, Visa Turkey Member Relations Group Head Burcu Altun, Visa Southern Europe Business Development Head Jak Telyaz, and Visa Southern Europe Consulting and Analytics Head Sertan Sener.

Samile Mumin, General Manager of Visa Turkey, emphasized the importance of Turkish consumers and banks, noting that banks operating in Turkey are innovative and solution-oriented. Mumin highlighted Turkey's prominence in the European region as a role model in this regard. "Banks operating in Turkey are innovative and solution-oriented. They produce solutions that can immediately respond to consumer needs. We also play a part in the first export of these solutions abroad, thanks to Visa. We implemented operations such as payment deferrals, installments, and location-based campaigns for merchants in the Visa world first in Turkey. In this respect, Turkey has emerged as a role model in the European region," Mumin stated.

Mumin also underscored the contribution of Visa's technology to Turkey's tourism revenues, stating, "Especially in terms of economic contribution, we see that the increase in tourism revenues in Turkey is partly due to foreign tourists coming to Turkey and making purchases with Visa cards, generating billions of dollars in foreign exchange each year. The world of card payments is open to entrepreneurship in Turkey. Approximately 53% of consumer spending is still made with card payments. Card payments also mean preventing the informal economy. Every 10% increase in digital payments indicates a 6% to 9% contraction in the informal economy."

Regarding the proliferation of token technology, Mumin explained, "We implemented token technology in 2022. It involves coding your card information into a digital code, producing a token, and this token can only be received by the merchant wanting to make a collection. Recently, we produced our 10 billionth token. We continue our activities to promote its proliferation in Turkey."

Visa also highlighted the widespread use of cards in Turkey. "Visa has approximately 140 million credit and debit cards in Turkey. Comparing 2022 and 2023, we see that the growth in card payments has been around 127%. The share of e-commerce and digital payments is increasing significantly. The growth in e-commerce is around 115% in our country," Mumin said.

Visa's 40-year presence in Turkey has been marked by innovative payment solutions and significant contributions to the economy. The information shared at the event underscores Visa's crucial role not only in financial technologies but also in the broader economy. Visa continues to maintain its innovative and solution-oriented approaches in Turkey, solidifying its position as a key player in the payment technology sector.