Visa Stay Secure Study 2025, a new study, commissioned by Visa reveals a rise in consumer awareness and proactive security measures for digital payments across Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA).
The ninth annual Stay Secure study, which surveyed 5,800 adults across 17 diverse CEMEA markets, found that 97% of consumers now actively take precautions to secure their online transactions, showcasing increased savviness as digital payments gain momentum.
While 71% of respondents in Kenya acknowledge their vulnerability to scams like phishing, the increased adoption of security measures and preference for stronger authentication indicate a positive shift in consumer behavior since the last edition of the Stay Secure study in 2023. Consumers are now actively spotting red flags and verifying the legitimacy of online interactions, showing a marked increase in awareness.
Other key insights emerging from the research bode well for the continued acceleration of digital payments across the region, with over three-quarters of all respondents stating that they mostly or completely trust digital payments, regardless of the threat of fraud. 90%of consumers across Kenya anticipate that they will increase their use of digital payments over the next year.
“The digital payments landscape is evolving rapidly, and consumers across Kenya are embracing its convenience while becoming more vigilant about security,” said Chad Pollock, VP & General Manager, Visa East Africa.
“Consumer education is our best defense against fraud, and industry collaboration makes this possible. As scams grow more sophisticated, the battle for security never stops. Consumers increasingly trust partners who take tangible steps to protect them.” He added
The ‘Stay Secure’ study highlights evolving consumer preferences, which could offer Visa’s stakeholders actionable intelligence for trust-building strategies and inform the creation of educational materials to empower consumers against fraud.”
Key Findings of the Visa Stay Secure Study: Kenya
- 71% of Kenyan consumers have experienced digital fraud, the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- 90% of Kenyan consumers expect to increase their use of digital payments in the next 12 months.
- 95% of consumers in Kenya worry that their family or friends might fall victim to a scam.
Visa has been at the centre of AI in payments, investing $3.3 billion in our AI and data infrastructure over the last decade. In 2024, it introduced three new AI-powered risk and fraud prevention solutions, as part of the Visa Protect suite, that are designed to help reduce fraud across immediate A2A and card-not-present (CNP) payments, as well as transactions on and off Visa’s network.
As the world’s largest SaaS platform, Visa combats cybercrime by deploying cutting-edge tools, expertise, and processes to help identify and mitigate fraud. The impact is undeniable: In the past year, Visa blocked $40 billion in fraudulent payment value, prevented 80 million fraudulent transactions, and averted over $122 million in estimated e-commerce fraud through malware detection.
