The share of digital payments in Azerbaijan has exceeded the global average, rising from about 10% to 40–45% over the past decade, Onur Faydacı, Country Manager of MasterCard for Azerbaijan and Türkiye, stated at the first Risk and Resilience Conference in Baku, organized by AmCham Azerbaijan, Report informs.
Faydacı noted that the global average for digital payments is around 40%, while Azerbaijan has already surpassed this figure: "In Northern European countries, the rate reaches 90–95%. In some places, cash payments are no longer possible."
He emphasized that the acceleration of digitalization exposes financial institutions to greater cybersecurity and fraud risks: "Transactions are assessed based on data such as phone usage, fingerprints, and location information, allowing risks to be detected and prevented in advance. The evolution of artificial intelligence also brings new challenges to the financial sector."
The official highlighted the transformative impact of generative AI, predicting that within the next 3–4 years, about 30% of global trade will be conducted by AI‑based agents: "They will select products, make comparisons, and manage purchases for people."
He stressed the need to balance innovation and regulation: "If innovation accelerates too much, risks grow; if regulation is too strict, technological development slows down."