BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 12. 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, Senior Director and Regional Manager for Visa in Azerbaijan, Nurlan Hajiyev, said in an exclusive interview with Trend on the sidelines of the International Finance and Banking Summit currently underway in Baku.
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.
However, the key to user trust when paying through AI agents is security.
"Our Trusted Agent Protocol plays a crucial role here. This is a set of standards that distinguish trusted agents from fraudulent bots. Click to Pay technology, which operates on tokenization, is also key. It is even more effective when combined with the Visa Passkey solution, which enables authentication and user identity verification on their device using a fingerprint or facial scan," he pointed out.
In conclusion, Hajiyev assured that Visa will develop these two solutions to make shopping even more convenient and secure for Azerbaijanis and pave the way for the introduction of agent commerce.
