Arab News, Wed, Apr 03, 2024 | Ramadan 24, 1445
Saudi Arabia’s retail e-payments responsible for 70% of all transactions: SAMA
Saudi Arabia:
The share of retail consumer electronic payments in Saudi Arabia surged to 70
percent of total transactions in 2023, up from 62 percent in the previous year,
official data showed.
According to the Saudi Central Bank, also known as
SAMA, this increase is attributed to the substantial growth of transactions
processed through national payment systems in 2023, totaling 10.8 billion deals
compared to 8.7 billion in the previous year.
This aligns with the objectives of the Financial
Sector Development Program, as retail consumer e-payments serve as a significant
key performance indicator within the plan.
The program, one of the main initiatives of the
Saudi Vision 2030, aims to create a diversified and efficient financial services
sector to support the development of the national economy.
This move also aligns well with SAMA’s ongoing
efforts to offer more options and encourage the adoption of digital transactions
by further developing the national payments infrastructure and enhancing related
services.
The central bank also stated that it will continue
collaborating with its partners to facilitate economic activities.
In recent years, the Kingdom has witnessed rapid
growth in the adoption of e-payments as a result of an integrated, strategic,
and collaborative approach across the financial community.
The evolving cost-effective and reliable commerce
system helps improve transactions efficiency as well as back financial
stability.
In September, a top official of the central bank
noted that the fintech sector is thriving in Saudi Arabia. This could be gauged
by the fact that the share of digital payments reached 62 percent, close enough
to the target of 70 percent by the end of 2025.
Speaking at the opening of a two-day digital
conference titled Seamless Saudi Arabia 2023, in Riyadh, Khalid Al-Dhaher, vice
governor for supervision and technology at SAMA, highlighted the growth of the
Kingdom’s financial sector since the launch of Vision 2030.
“We have witnessed a significant increase in the
number of financial technology companies, reaching 183 companies by the end of
the second quarter of 2023. This achievement represents 80 percent of the target
set for the year 2025, which is 230 companies,” he said at the time.