(Business in Cameroon) – On September 22, global digital payments giant Visa brought together banks, fintechs, and institutional partners for its Visa Compliance Forum in Douala. The event aimed to create a platform for dialogue to improve understanding and implementation of compliance standards within Cameroon’s financial ecosystem.
“We organized this forum to build a secure, compliant, and high-performing ecosystem. Compliance is a serious issue, and we want our business to evolve within a well-regulated framework to ensure innovation happens under the right conditions,” said Inès Amani, Visa’s Country Manager for Cameroon.
Financial compliance requires institutions and financial actors to adhere to established laws, regulations, and standards. It covers essential practices such as combating money laundering and terrorist financing, protecting customers, and managing risk. The objective is to ensure the transparency, integrity, and stability of the financial system.
Despite the existing framework, challenges persist, particularly in customer identification. Visa is looking to develop alternatives to address these challenges while remaining strictly compliant. With over a thousand compliance experts worldwide, the company provides its partners with tools and processes to detect and resolve compliance issues for the long term.
These tools include biometric identity, artificial intelligence already integrated into most risk management solutions, and transaction monitoring to prevent money laundering. According to Amani, other, more flexible solutions can also be implemented, such as well-documented reports, field visits, and due diligence procedures to verify the authenticity and activity of customers. These measures help better identify clients while Cameroon works to implement solutions tailored for the entire country.
Operating in over 200 countries, Visa has 4.7 billion payment credentials and 150 million connected merchants. In 2024, the company prevented $40 billion in fraud and annually blocks more than 203 billion suspicious transactions. In Africa, Visa is strengthening its commitment to compliance and proactive risk management while helping local actors ensure a safer and more efficient financial ecosystem.
Frédéric Nonos
