10-31-2025 
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Payment giant Mastercard (NASDAQ: MA) has highlighted several roadblocks standing in the way of digital payment adoption in Uzbekistan amid a rapidly changing global landscape.
Denis Filippov, Mastercard country manager for Uzbekistan and Belarus, reportedly said Uzbekistan faces peculiar challenges. Top of the list for Filippov is cybersecurity limitations plaguing the payments landscape, with early adopters facing heightened risks from bad actors.
Filippov revealed that low financial literacy metric in Uzbekistan is a leading factor underpinning low digital payments. The country manager added that a significant portion of residents in rural regions are unaware of the benefits and mechanisms of digital payments, indicating a preference for cash-based transactions.
Apart from cybersecurity and financial literacy limitations, Filippov disclosed that infrastructure challenges contribute to the lackluster digital payment growth, including poor Internet connectivity, intermittent power supply, and limited POS terminal availability.
Other stumbling blocks include fragmented payment systems and the lingering challenge of low smartphone penetration in remote regions.
Aware of the challenges, Mastercard has since made significant attempts to provide practical solutions. Earlier, the payment giant unveiled an initiative to digitize small businesses in Uzbekistan, offering free access to payment software for over 12,000 enterprises.
To combat the rise of cybersecurity challenges, Mastercard’s country manager noted that its identification systems are leaning on artificial intelligence (AI) to preemptively clamp down on threats. Filippov stated that Mastercard will double its collaboration with regulators and other fintech operators to introduce modern payment security and standards.
“Our cybersecurity and identification systems monitor around 32 million incidents daily, related to various risks,” noted Filippov. “The operation of these systems is largely based on artificial intelligence.”
A streak of efforts
In line with its commitment to improve digital payments, Mastercard has built a streak with regulators across the globe. In September, Mastercard and the Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC) announced a collaboration to improve data privacy across the country’s financial ecosystem.
The payment giant has tinkered with next-gen technologies with AI and blockchain, providing the biggest upside in combating digital currency fraud. A recent Mastercard report predicted that digital payments in Africa will soar in volume to reach $1.5 trillion by the end of 2030, while warning of an imminent surge in fraud.
AI on the menu: Nestlé revamps operations
Elsewhere, Swiss-based multinational food and beverage company Nestlé (NASDAQ: NSRGF) has announced a major upgrade to its internal processes with AI and automation capabilities.
The upgrade sees Nestlé ditch its current SAP setup for the SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private edition, combining on-premise flexibility and the benefits of cloud deployment. Described as the world’s largest SAP upgrade, the move is tipped to usher in a raft of benefits for the company.The latest development will support the deployment of AI functionality at scale across its business vertical. SAP’s AI Copilot will be integrated into Nestlé’s core business systems, with Anna Manz, the company’s CFO, highlighting a range of use cases.
For employees, the improved AI functionalities will provide insights for real-time and data-driven decision-making. Furthermore, Manz added that the new AI capabilities will enable the company to remain nimble in responding to changing consumer trends while improving supply chain management.
“This upgrade will help us build multi-year innovation pipelines, more agile production, and digital-first marketing and sales platforms for areas like cold coffee, therapeutic pet food, and modern cooking aids,” said Manz.
The company confirmed that as many as 50,000 Nestlé users in 112 countries across Asia, Oceania, and Africa will benefit from the upgrade. Citing its improved digital architecture, Manz noted that the company will extend the upgrade globally within 24 months.
Nestlé disclosed that the next-generation enterprise software solution will significantly improve its operational efficiency while freeing up resources for further investment. Meanwhile, executives are mulling the prospects of automated and uniform procurement processes across its verticals.
“With the upgrade, we gain more flexibility, capabilities, and insights that will help us roll out new products globally faster to meet the needs of our customers and consumers,” remarked Nestlé CIO Chris Wright.
Dabbling with emerging technologies in the food sector
The latest upgrade with AI functionalities is not Nestlé’s first tango with emerging technologies. In 2019, the Swiss-based firm teamed up with IBM (NASDAQ: IBM) and Carrefour (NASDAQ: CRERF) to experiment with blockchain in tracking food across all levels of the supply chain.
Nestlé followed up its initial attempts with a palm oil blockchain-based pilot to enable consumers to track sustainability and provenance across the entire supply chain. Experts have highlighted blockchain’s ability to solve the $40 billion food fraud quagmire amid rising utility in Europe and Southeast Asia.
In order for artificial intelligence (AI) to work right within the law and thrive in the face of growing challenges, it needs to integrate an enterprise blockchain system that ensures data input quality and ownership—allowing it to keep data safe while also guaranteeing the immutability of data. Check out CoinGeek’s coverage on this emerging tech to learn more why Enterprise blockchain will be the backbone of AI.
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