Located in Dubai, the office will strengthen EMP's presence in the UAE as well as supporting its expansion across the entire Arab Gulf Area.

"EMP is proud to have been a leader in the development of the electronic payments industry across Africa for over a decade," said Paul Edwards, Executive Chairman of EMP. "It initially operated under the name Mediterranean Smart Cards Company (MSCC) before becoming part of the EMP Group in 2010. In 2011 we acquired Visa Jordan, which opened up the Levant region. We believe that our expansion into the Arab Gulf Area is an important strategic step for our business, given the sophisticated financial services sector in the region and the willingness to adopt the latest electronic payments technologies."

Edwards pointed out that EMP operates across all links in the electronic payments chain and currently serves 130 banks and 30,000 retailers across 49 countries in MEA.

According to Naeem Kola, EMP's Chief Financial Officer, in addition to serving as EMP's processing hub for the region, the Dubai operation will also house the company's International Disaster Recovery (IDR) site. The IDR site is a state-of-the-art facility which will ensure that EMP's customers will enjoy the highest levels of service availability.

"In addition to its acquiring, issuing and switching business, EMP offers an innovative and wide range of products for banks, merchants and governments, which include advisory services, data analytics, credit scoring, collections, mobile payments and electronic bill presentment and payment among many others, " said Kola.