Visa Token Service:
Georgia launches innovative cashless payments
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A global payments technology company Visa is launching an innovative Visa Token Service in Georgia in a bid to provide a secure environment and help drive innovation in online and mobile commerce.
The first in Georgia Visa Token Service program was launched in partnership with one of the largest banks in Georgia the Bank of Georgia.
With Visa Token Service consumers can shop anywhere, on any device, with confidence. In Georgia where each fourth Visa card is issued with contactless functionality and each second Visa transaction goes contactless, we expect a fast adoption of Visa Token Service,” said Dmytro Krepak, Visa Country Manager for Ukraine, Georgia and Armenia.
Visa Token Service provides a seamless experience for consumers making purchases online and with mobile devices, while preserving the integrity of the Visa payment transaction.
Visa Token Service replaces sensitive payment account information found on plastic cards with a digital account number or "token”. Because "tokens” do not carry a consumer’s payment account details, such as the 16-digit account number, they can be safely stored by online merchants or on mobile devices to facilitate ecommerce and mobile payments. To try new service Visa cardholders need to use NFC-enabled mobile devices, running on the Android operating system.
Georgia takes the first place globally in terms of the percentage of contactless payments in domestic transactions followed by Australia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Cyprus, announced Visa earlier today.
Georgian citizens spent 2.35 billion GEL ($0.82 bln/€0.74) abroad by bank cards in 2019 which is 34 per cent more compared to last year, reports the National Bank of Georgia (NBG).
Georgian customers will be able to make cashless Euro payments via credit transfer and direct debit anywhere in the European Union as well as a number of non-EU countries, with the country preparing to join the Single Euro Payments Area, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced on Monday.
The Government of Georgia has supported three amendments in the country's financial legislation to facilitate the country joining the Single Euro Payments Area, the Ministry of Economy announced on Monday.
The National Bank of Georgia on Tuesday submitted an application for the country’s membership in the single euro payments area, which would make cross-border payments in the currency as simple as national payments.