Visa — a leading global credit card provider — and Meeza — the newly implemented payroll system implemented by the Egyptian government — announced on Monday that they launched the Stay Secure Campaign to foster financial and data safety.
The campaign revealed through a Visa Stay Secure Survey that 80% of Egyptian consumers want to know how their personal information will be protected before sharing it with online merchants, and that one in three consumers struggles with identifying scams.
Moreover, 75% of consumers said the security of the payment method offered on a merchant’s website was the top reason they would choose to pay online with their cards rather than cash on delivery (COD).
Meanwhile, guarantees put in place to protect consumers’ payment data was a concern for 64% of consumers, and the prices of goods or services came last as a decisive factor when considering payment options at 15%.
Additionally, more than three out of every five consumers surveyed have made a digital payment within the last month, and nearly half of respondents have increasingly used more digital payment methods in stores — especially contactless payments — and made at least one online purchase since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
And while the majority of consumers (72%) expressed confidence in recognising frauds or scams, one third of the surveyed customers in Egypt continued to struggle in this area.
Data privacy and security is critical to consumers
The majority of respondents (80%) want to know how their personal information will be protected prior to sharing it with an e-commerce website. Moreover, about 75% of respondents stated that they would like to know how security technology works to be able to trust digital payment methods in general, reinforcing the importance of consumer education by payment industry stakeholders — such as financial institutions, payment companies, and governments — to build consumer trust in digital payments.
What role consumers play in their own security?
Amany Shams Al-Din — First Sub-Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) — stressed the importance of educating customers about the dos and don’ts when making online purchases and protecting their card data.
She highlighted that the CBE — in cooperation with the Egyptian Banking Union and banks operating in Egypt — has carried out a number of educational campaigns to raise customers’ awareness about the protection of their personal and financial data and to educate them on how not to disclose this data to third parties.
The CBE is also committed to adhering to the latest international standards for secure online banking transactions and supports Visa and Meeza’s efforts to raise awareness and encourage the use of digital payments.
For her part, Leila Serhan — Visa’s Group Country Manager in North Africa, the Levant, and Pakistan — said: “Consumers value security and privacy more than price and transparency when it comes to how their personal data is handled.”
“These are important insights for merchants looking to build and maintain consumer trust in their payment offerings. And the fact that a third of consumers are still unable to identify a potential fraud reinforces the need for all players in the payments ecosystem to continue to work together to ensure consumers are protected.”
“Now in its second year, our Stay Secure campaign continues to be an important platform for Visa and our partners to help educate consumers about payment security and support merchants in meeting the increasing need for secure and seamless e-payments both in-store and online,” she added.
