Avsar Gurdal: 'International players increasingly will come up with request to enter the Azerbaijani market'

Avsar Gurdal, Mastercard General Manager for Azerbaijan and Turkiye, sat for an interview with Report Information Agency. We present the full text of the interview:

Mr. Gurdal, intensive measures are being taken in Azerbaijan to expand the scope of non-cash payments. At the same time, Azerbaijan Railways issued a warning about unavailability of "Mastercard" while using"Apple Pay" and "Google Pay" payments on board its trains. What stands behind the problem and what steps are taken to solve it?

It is true that we have a problem in this regard. We are currently working to solve it. Currently, the existing service provider company needs to make updates and a simultaneous work is being done in this direction as well. We are working on eliminating this problem as soon as possible.

Today, Turkish online stores make up the bulk share of the overall online shopping by the Azerbaijani citizens. Our citizens prefer more to use installment (credit) cards within the country. Last year, I asked Mastercard about the validity of these cards. It was reported that work is underway and a decision will be made in the summer. Is there any progress?

Today, all "Mastercard" cards issued by the Azerbaijani banks are valid all over the world. But infrastructure and integration are needed to enable installment transactions with these cards. In other words, the company issuing these cards can finance the installment transaction made through them, but further development is definitely needed for the other party to accept it. We are currently working on this challenging project. Because here it is necessary to build the infrastructure that will inter-connect the two institutions. We haven't done it yet.

The currently active one-time contactless payment limit in Azerbaijan is 100 manats. Should we expect an increase in this amount due to inflation in the world and in our country?

These indicators have increased from time to time in the world. Previously, it was around 20 dollars across the world. But there was an increase in these numbers due to mainly two reasons. The first was inflation and the second was the change in consumer habits. We can predict that the amount for one-time contactless payments will increase in line with current inflation indicators.

Any figure you would suggest?

In fact, the available 100 manat is not such a bad indicator. It complies with world standards. This is not a bad indicator, at all, but rather a fair number.

Roughly a month ago, Mastercard signed a memorandum of understanding with Azericard. What does this contract address and what innovations will it bring in?

Yes, you are right, we signed a project on consulting services with Azericard. Within the framework of this project, we will carry out cooperation on data (DATA) management. Of course, information is the most important spiritual food today. If you use the data correctly, you can provide the right service to the consumer. In fact, many companies in the world today serve based on estimations. For example, "Google" predicts the next product you are going to use, "Uber" tries to predict traffic, "Amazon" tries to guess where you plan to do shopping. Of course, these predictions are made using DATA.

Together with Azericard, we will take necessary measures related to DATA management. Institutions will try to render healthier services to the end user by using data more intelligently and correctly. In a nutshell, our main focus will be the analysis of DATA.

Most of those who make cashless payments in Azerbaijan know the company you represent thanks to the campaigns you run. Have you paused new promotional activities other than the campaign at the "Bravo" market?

Our main concern at the moment is to reduce the volume of cash payments. Various campaigns are held for this purpose. In addition to the campaign with "Bravo", we are also expanding our relations with restaurants. Big discounts are already planned for payments made in restaurants through mobile applications. We have also intensified our relations with different clothing companies. We run these campaigns under the name "Priceless Specials".

Over the recent years, international payment systems such as "Apple Pay" and "Google Pay" were launched in Azerbaijan. What field-related innovations do you expect for our country further?

Azerbaijan is a country with great potential. Today, the share of mobile contactless payments among transactions has reached 10%. We expect this indicator to grow rapidly and settle at 30% by the end of 2023.

Of course, in addition to the payment systems you mentioned, other global mobile contactless payment players may also want to leverage this potential. To make it happen, they can enter the Azerbaijani market in the coming period. Azerbaijan is currently experiencing a speedy adaptation to this process. Of course, the increase in contactless payments by 10% within one year testifies to how Azerbaijan is quick in adapting.

Currently, there are only "Apple Pay" and "Google Pay" operating in Azerbaijan. In fact, these two brands have a major share in the global mobile contactless payment market.

I am convinced that in the coming years, international players increasingly will come up with request to enter the Azerbaijani market, and as a result, the consumers will have a wider choice.

One of the issues standing at the epicenter of discussions in our country in recent years is the application of a single transport card. We believe you may have suggestions in this field, as well, given your rich field-related experience. Are there any ongoing negotiations with the government to translate the mentioned issue into action?

Our main focus right now is to have a cashless society. For this reason, we follow a strategic goal of ensuring card acceptance in all segments and sectors. Transport comes at the forefront. Because when you feel the comfort of making contactless payment in transport just once, you can literally turn it into a permanent habit.

As you know, we have significant worldwide experience in this field. In 30 cities of Türkiye alone, we have built the infrastructure that enables the use of contactless credit cards and bank cards in public transportation.

We carried out a similar experiment in Azerbaijan. We successfully implemented a similar pilot project in the city of Shamakhi. We are constantly discussing all these issues with the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, meaning, this topic is very important to us.

During the pandemic, a number of commercial banks in Azerbaijan wanted the service fees of "Mastercard" and other companies providing similar services to be reduced. What discussions did you have on this issue?

Of course, as in all business relations, we also work within the framework of the agreement with banks. As a result of this agreement, we mutually take various stimulating steps. In this regard, we carry out such activities with all the institutions within our cooperation scope in Azerbaijan.