Ihab Ayoub (left), Visa General Manager for Middle East and North Africa, and Francesca McDonagh, Regional Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Middle East & North Africa, HSBC Bank Middle East Limited, shake hands after the signing of agreement.
VISA, one of the world's leading payment solutions providers, has signed a new five-year agreement with HSBC Bank Middle East Limited that covers debit and credit card businesses across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The milestone agreement is aimed at enhancing the long-standing relationship between Visa and HSBC Bank Middle East by offering best-in-class and innovative payment solutions for the discerning consumer across the UAE, Egypt, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan and Lebanon. Under this agreement, HSBC Bank Middle East Limited will offer Visa debit products to all of its customers and Visa credit card products to selected segments of its customer base. Ihab Ayoub, Visa General Manager for Middle East and North Africa, said: “We are excited to enter with our global partner HSBC into this five-year agreement to provide best-in-class debit and credit products to consumers across the MENA region who are increasingly discerning in their choices. Over the years, Visa has worked closely with HSBC to meet and exceed customer expectations, and with this agreement, we are going even further by offering consumers unmatched benefits that meet their travel and lifestyle needs.” He added: “This agreement also reflects our commitment to displacing cash by offering innovative payment features such as PayWave to enable Contactless transactions that offer even greater convenience, while still providing the same secure, flexible, globally-accepted benefits cardholders have come to rely on.” Francesca McDonagh, Regional Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Middle East & North Africa, HSBC Bank Middle East Limited, said: “Ensuring our customers enjoy the best-in-class suite of electronic payment solutions is an important focus area for HSBC. This agreement with Visa marks another step forward in ensuring our debit and credit cards provide access to greater convenience, flexibility, security and globally accessible benefits. We are delighted to continue our long standing strategic partnership with Visa as we look to evolve our product offering and enhance the value we provide our customers.” HSBC currently offers its customers a wide array of Visa products, including Visa Gold and Platinum Credit Card and the Visa Classic and Platinum Debit Card. The new agreement goes a long way in enhancing HSBC's customer-centric products – Visa Gold and Visa Platinum - which include Air Miles rewards schemes and dining and lifestyle privileges, among other benefits. — SG
