BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24. The Central Bank of
Azerbaijan (CBA) has discussed the further expansion of the digital
payment infrastructure in the country with Visa.


This was announced in the report by the CBA.


According to the report, Deputy Chairman of the CBA Vusal
Khalilov met with Sergiy Martinchuk, the newly appointed Senior
Vice President and Country Manager of Visa for the CIS and
Southeast Europe, Central Asia, and the Caucasus region.


The meeting also discussed optimization of costs related to
accepting payments, combating fraud in the sector, and improving
risk management mechanisms.


During the meeting, an exchange of views was held on promising
initiatives to further increase the security and efficiency of
digital payments.


Earlier, Senior Director and Regional Manager for Visa in
Azerbaijan, Nurlan Hajiyev, said in an exclusive interview with
Trend that Visa is introducing new technologies and
services to the market, with 10 issuing banks having already
completed the technical implementation of Click to Pay in
Azerbaijan.


He noted that Visa continues to actively develop digital payment
solutions in Azerbaijan, including tokenization, SME solutions, and
e-commerce services.


"Back in 2019, we introduced Visa Token Service technology,
laying the foundation for payments via Apple Pay and Google Pay,
which subsequently came to Azerbaijan. Today, it's commonplace for
local users: when you visit the websites or platforms of our
partners, such as Bolt, Wolt, Epoint, BirMarket, Bakcell, Azercell,
and many others, you can pay for your purchase using digital
wallets. It's seamless, convenient, and secure," he explained.


According to Hajiyev, the tokenization of e-commerce has
increased significantly.


"Over the past year, the volume of domestic payments via digital
wallets has grown almost 2.5 times, while cross-border transactions
have grown more than 1.5 times," he emphasized.


The Visa Tap to Phone solution, currently offered to customers
by nine Azerbaijani banks, plays a key role in the development of
contactless payments.


"This is a convenient payment method for small businesses: no
need to install and maintain a payment terminal, and payments can
be accepted from a smartphone," he pointed out.







Moving on to the topic of cross-border payments, Hajiyev
discussed the implementation of Visa Direct Account and Wallet in
collaboration with Xalq Bank. This solution allows for easy and
simple international transfers in the recipient's local
currency.


The speaker also discussed the privileges for premium
cardholders.


"Visa premium cardholders can access any of the 1,200 business
lounges worldwide through the DragonPass program. Users also have
access to airport transfers—one of the most popular services in
Azerbaijan—and a special expedited check-in procedure with the Fast
Track service," Hajiyev clarified.


He also shared that Sea Breeze is one of Visa's key
partners.


"We have extended our partnership agreement and continue to
develop our collaboration," he said.


The Visa representative also mentioned the extension of another
partnership—the signing of a memorandum with the National Olympic
Committee aimed at supporting the development of local sports.


Separately, Hajiyev spoke about the development of digital
payments in public transport.


"Back in 2021, together with the International Bank of
Azerbaijan, we launched electronic payments on the Baku Ring
Railway, and the next step was the introduction of Mobility &
Transit Transaction technology in 2022, which combines all payments
for the day into a single transaction. In 2025, another important
launch for smart mobility took place: together with BakıKart,
Payriff, and Kapital Bank, we opened the possibility for Visa
cardholders to pay on both the metro and buses in Baku and Ganja,"
he said.


Hajiyev also touched on the use of artificial intelligence in
the payments sector:


"We've been implementing machine learning to combat fraud since
1993. Over the past 10 years alone, Visa has invested over $3
billion in AI and data processing infrastructure to ensure safer
money transfers and proactively detect and prevent fraud," he
explained.


According to him, another important area of AI development is
agent commerce, and a significant portion of users are already
ready to use agent solutions for payments. "According to Visa
studies, 58% of people are willing to use agents to compare prices,
and 55% to apply discounts and special offers. What's especially
telling is that 38% of people are already willing to trust AI to
complete a purchase, and among Generation Z, this figure reaches
48%," he stressed.