TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, August 25. The rapid
growth of digital payments is accompanied by an expansion of the
risk landscape, making customer education and awareness
increasingly important for financial security, Nikolai Belstein,
Senior Director of Consulting and Analytics at Visa CEMEA, said,
Trend’s special
correspondent reports from Tashkent.
He made the remarks while speaking at the Silk Road Finance &
Technology Forum.
According to Belstein, the increase in digital payment volumes
means that financial service providers need to pay greater
attention to managing associated risks. “The amount of digital
payments has been growing, meaning that the threat landscape has
also doubled, so the risk is also doubled. That’s the main
problem,” he said.
He noted that service providers, issuers and banks share
responsibility for managing these risks, while regulators also play
an important role. “We as all the service providers, issuers,
banks, etc., have to accept, and we should manage this risk in an
appropriate way,” Belstein said.
At the same time, he identified customer behavior and awareness
as one of the main challenges facing the digital payments
ecosystem. “The main issues and challenges which the ecosystem is
currently facing, it’s not about the payment systems or ecosystem
itself. It’s more about the weakest part — us, as human beings,” he
said.
According to Belstein, greater investment in financial education
and customer awareness could help prevent a significant share of
fraud-related incidents. “The main message is that we should focus
heavily on education and awareness of our customers,” he said.
He recommended that customers verify suspicious requests
directly with their banks before proceeding with a transaction. “If
you really think that it is kind of okay, please double-check. Just
make a call back to the bank and ask whether it is really a
legitimate person,” Belstein said.
