The global technology leader in information commerce, 'First Data', has entered Pakistan to avail opportunities in the current economic crisis when banks need to improve their operational activities.
Brian Quarrie, Managing Director of 'First Data', Middle East and Pakistan, in an exclusive interview with Business Recorder via e-mail, said that major changes in economic situations give rise to opportunities, especially where increased efficiency is required.
He said that some studies on the current crisis suggest that the current situation will bring an opportunity to banks to implement measures which have been postponed for too long but which are necessary to ensure their competitiveness at the regional and global levels.
"These are times when banks across the world are thinking creatively not only to manage liquidity crisis but also to improve operational efficiency," he said
First Data models offer both reduced costs and drive revenues for customers, characteristics which are both highly sought after by organisations currently when one considers the economic climate, Brian said.
"We expect our services to be in high demand. Hence, we are very pleased with the strategic decision to open office in Pakistan and look forward to working with financial and retail partners throughout the country," he added.
With a range of unique services products and highly experienced people, First Data is in a good position to face any changes in the economy in the short and long terms, he said.
He said that having such a diversified range of products in a vast number of markets can only be of benefit, "and we are working hard to analyse the situation, so we can take advantage of any arising opportunities".
He said, "First Data is the global technology leader in information commerce and helps businesses such as merchants and financial institutions to process electronic payment transactions across all modes of payments, safely and efficiently.
With operations in 37 countries, 'First Data' serves more than 5.4 million merchant locations and more than 2,000 card issuers and their customers across the world, he added.
'First Data' opened its office in Karachi in August 2008, and is offering a full range of payment card and loan processing services, merchant acquiring solutions, ATM and point-of-sale management, fraud and risk management as well as other value-added services to Pakistan's financial institutions and major retail organisations, he said.
Entry into the fast growing Pakistan market reflects First Data's strategy of developing a local presence in major markets around the world to deliver its global payment solutions, Brian said.
First Data's has appointed Khurram Gul Agha as country manager, who has a wealth of local knowledge on Pakistan's payments and collections market, specialising in transactional banking for the corporate and retail sectors, he added.
Considering the comprehensive range of flexible payment processing and consumer finance outsourcing solutions, First Data has a wide range of audiences but in the main these can be characterised as financial institutions, banks and retailers, he said, adding that "our wide range of tailored solutions enables us to provide a single source for payment processing virtually anywhere and any format as determined by our customers".
He said that like any economy in the world, people in Pakistan will be looking for payment mechanisms that are convenient, accessible and secure.
Meanwhile, confidence should also be gained from the fact that First Data processes more payments globally than any other provider (33.9 billion global merchant transactions in 2007, across 66 countries) enabling customers to efficiently gather, integrate and understand transaction data across payment types and regions, he said.
"We also have 27,000 experts employed world-wide including professionals based in Pakistan who are aware of the local requirements, so the in-house knowledge is at hand to provide solutions to all issues,' he informed.
He said that First Data comprehensive range of solutions provides fraud detection and prevention services at every stage of the payments life-cycle from application, activation, authentication and pre-transaction, through to transaction and beyond. While, it also provides a comprehensive suite of operational fraud services designed to deliver early detection of potential fraud events and to minimise customer inconvenience. We work in conjunction with our local clients to ensure appropriate implementation of functions for local needs.
About access in Pakistan, Brian said that the company is already providing a complete range if services to Bank Al Falah and Allied Bank. "But we're looking forward to developing clients further, as the office gets established and local institutions start to realise the potential benefits of working with First Data". About future plans, he said: "We are planning to continue to grow our business presence across all our existing lines of business and keep supporting our existing clients going forward. Since electronic payment processing as a business is in its formative stages, we do anticipate strong growth potential in the coming five years.