Visa Inc. to open an office in Almaty

VISA has announced opening a representation office in Almaty, Profinance.kz reports, citing the Company’s press release. “Opening an office in Kazakhstan we confirm that Kazakhstan is a priority market for us. We want to be closer to the market and cooperate more closely with local banks and other interested institutions”, Aleksandr Kalita, Area Manager CIS, said. “Fifteen years for such a vast country as Kazakhstan is a relatively short time. Kazakh banks’ successes in partnership with Visa Inc. such as introduction of mobile payments, money transfer services, issuance and acceptance of chip-protected cards and development of co-brand programs do impress”, Steven Parker, General Director of Visa Russia, CIS and SEE, believes. The total of payments via VISA cards in 2011 in Kazakhstan made up $1.7 billion, 34% up against 2010. As of the end of 2011 the 16-million nation’s banks issued a total of 8 million Visa cards. At the end of 2011 Visa cards could be accepted at over 12 000 retail outlets. Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, banks and governments in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Visa Inc.’s headquarters are in San Francisco, and the Company has approximately 7,500 employees around the world. It operates three data centers on two continents. Today, the network spans 15,200 financial institution customers, 1.93 million ATMs (as of September 30, 2011), 200 countries and territories, 1.9 billion Visa cards (as of September 30, 2011). Visa has built one of the world’s most advanced processing networks, capable of handling more than 24,000 transactions per second reliably, conveniently and securely. Tengrinews.kz reported earlier that as of March 1, 2012 Kazakhstan-based banks issued a total of 10.3 million bank cards. “The number of bank cards has hit 10.3 million, with the number of bank card holders reaching 9.5 million people (17.1% and 17.5% up as compared to the indicators as of March 1, 2011”, the National Bank’s statement reads. As of March 1, 2012 bank cards are issued by 21 banks and KazPost Post Service Operator.