About

Visa – a colossus of the financial technology sector – encounters a wide variety of legal matters on a daily basis. The company’s legal department in Dubai is a lean team comprising of only three members and is led by senior legal counsel Arshika Perry. Due to the large responsibility and the size of the team, it has implemented legal training for Visa’s business units on commonly raised topics with clients, such as data sharing, as well as implementing various new methods of getting work done more efficiently. For example, the team has integrated various contract templates into automated tools such as Salesforce allowing business units to use these self-service contracts and other frequently requested legal support. Specifically, the team’s non-disclosures are completely self-service, and the business is educated and trained on the information which is to be inserted, allowing for improved efficiencies for business engagements. In 2017 the legal team supported Visa in the UAE with the launch of the “Visa Innovation Centre”, bringing Visa’s latest technological innovations closer to the region and clients as well as new opportunities for us to engage with new types of business partners such as governments and other technology companies. Since then, Visa has launched other “Innovation Centres” in the region and the legal team continues to support the growth of projects with non-traditional partners, dealing with unique legal queries. Over the past couple of years the legal team has worked closely with the digital solution team at Visa in the launch and expansion of “Visa Checkout” across four markets including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait. “Visa Checkout” is one of Visa’s solutions for seamless e-commerce transactions, and this meant that the legal team was engaged continuously and closely with the digital team as well as with clients and partners to ensure its successful launch and rollout. Visa is working very closely with the Egyptian government, to help them digitise and improve efficiencies in their subsidy programs which are provided to Egyptian citizens. This project is focused on replacing dated manual payment methods through new efficient and digitalised solutions supported by Visa, with the expectation of improved user experiences and a reduction in the cost to the Egyptian government. On the success of the team, Perry attributes it to excellent teamwork and drive. She says, ‘in the MENA region, the Visa legal team
is a “lean, mean, legal machine”. As three members manage the legal work for the entire region as well as the day-to-day operations of the CEMEA hub office. The team works closely with the business as partners and as a whole stand out’.