International not-for-profit trade association Prepaid International Forum (PIF) has announced plans to expand its international presence with the launch of a regional Chapter for the Middle East.
Executives from PIF's regional Chapter Patron, TSYS, have been working with the association's central body to coordinate the Chapter launch. A pre-selected number of organisations have been invited to attend the inaugural meeting in February to consider the opportunities and challenges for prepaid in the Middle East and the role of PIF in helping to shape and drive the development of prepaid solutions across the region. Participating organisations will be given an opportunity to consider their own involvement in the Chapter as a founding member.
The Middle East is a key market for prepaid with segments including mobile, payroll cards and general purpose cards poised for significant growth. The potential for prepaid continues to gather pace and the opportunity across different customer segments is vast. Among them is the opportunity for prepaid to be used as an alternative low-cost solution for servicing the region's large expatriate community in place of traditional banking services. The rapidly emerging affluent segment is another key target for the expansion of innovative prepaid solutions.
"As an award-winning Prepaid Industry Partner in the Middle East Market, we are pleased to extend our support as Patron of the PIF Middle East chapter. We are committed to the development of prepaid and promoting the benefits it can bring to people's lives as an alternative payment tool", said Jaffar Agha-Jaffar, Managing Director of the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan, TSYS.
As in other markets, consumer and stakeholder awareness of prepaid as an alternative payment solution is fundamental to driving acceptance and adoption. A key role of PIF is to interact with government agencies, regulators, consumer bodies and the media to promote understanding of prepaid products and how they are used. It is anticipated that PIF Middle East will draw on the work of the central forum enabling members to take away valuable insights, best practices and business models for revenue--generating value propositions.
PIF Chairman Robert Courtneidge welcomed the launch of PIF Middle East. He said "The launch of PIF Middle East represents another important stage in PIF's development. PIF has already proven the benefits of working together to share knowledge and experience and we look forward to collaborating with our colleagues in the Middle East to provide the desired impetus for market development".
Representing the central forum at the Inaugural Meeting will be Robert Courtneidge, Chairman and Co-Founder of PIF and Global Head of Cards & Payments at Locke Lord LLP and Peter Sidenius, Director, Edgar, Dunn & Company and a member of the PIF Board of Directors.