The Central Bank of Kuwait data reveals that during 2021, approximately 648 million purchases were executed, exceeding 34.28 billion dinars, thus achieving a growth of about 49% in terms of number, and about 34% in terms of value, while the growth achieved in this area included in particular, all payment transactions, whether executed through the point-of-sale machines, automated teller machines, or the electronic payment gateways.
The financial payments executed locally in favor of individuals recorded a great leap during the past year, and what increases the importance of the growth is that it came at a significant pace in the value of financial payments, as well as in their numbers, reports a local Arabic daily.
Moreover, the economists decoded the secret of the great expansion recorded in financial purchases carried out last year, whether through point-of-sale devices, automated teller machines or the electronic payment gateway, as they attributed this mainly to the growing consumption demand of all members of society, which was pent-up, specifically in the 2020 due to the restrictions imposed by the Corona pandemic of closures and periods of partial and total bans.
They pointed out that the postponement of consumer and installment loan installments twice, each 6 months, and the suspension of spending on travel and tourism in a period and its decline at a later stage led to the recording of savings in individuals, especially the current one, as it is clear that the owners were waiting for the opportunity to ease restrictions to monetize them in consumption.
And analytically, the jump recorded in the 2021 financial withdrawals is generally not the only point of consideration, as the details of the data show that the rise in withdrawals was primarily driven by the rise in payment transactions made through websites.
Speaking from the digital point of view, electronic payment operations during the past year witnessed a growth of 67.75 percent in terms of value and 53 percent in terms of number, to reach about 10 billion dinars in 2021 compared to 6 billion recorded in 2020, which clearly reflects the acceleration of the transformation of customers and consumers locally towards electronic payments, In addition, this growth also indicates the readiness of the payment systems in Kuwait and its ability to absorb the transformation taking place in the behavior of financial payment.
What reinforces this view is that, looking at the operations that were carried out through automated teller machines (cash withdrawals), it is noted that last year they achieved a modest growth compared to the general growth in total operations, as the growth rate in those operations was about 12 percent in terms of number and 6 percent. percent in terms of value, in addition to a decrease in the share of such operations from the total executed operations, which amounted to about 30 percent after it was around 50 percent in 2018.
It is clear that the process of digital transformation of the various financial institutions has contributed to reducing reliance on cash as a means of payment, and the pandemic and the consequent closures and bans have accelerated the process of digital transformation, and in the application of the concepts of digitization and the digital economy.
Regulatory and bankers believe that individuals are increasingly relying on digital payment channels in exchange for reducing their cash withdrawals, driven by the great spread of the Internet and its smart applications, where the concept of “electronic payment” has become today one of the daily necessities of people and institutions in various sectors.
It is worth noting that last October witnessed a new record in point-of-sale operations, reaching 35 million transactions worth one billion dinars, while electronic payment doubled during the Corona crisis 3 times, and with the return to normal life and the resumption of commercial activities, the percentages of electronic payment did not decrease, While the use of cash witnessed a decrease of 30 percent. On the supervisory level, the Central Bank of Kuwait is credited with its tireless endeavor to support the banking and financial sector’s benefit from modern technologies at the level of the banking and financial sector business models and the sector’s work environment, through its various decisions and regulations that reinforced the dedication of technology among Kuwaiti banks.
With a simple inventory of the recorded digital developments, it is noted that the private sector is not alone in accomplishing the transformation electronically, as government agencies have succeeded during the last period in digitizing the majority of the tools for collecting their dues, starting with electronic stamps, passing through the implementation of judgments, to paying the fees due through the application of Sahel Al-Shamil, and other applications. Direct parties.
According to official data, government payment operations increased electronically during 2021 by 45 percent through its channels represented in the electronic portal, individual points of sale and integrated points of sale, payment by mobile phone and payment by electronic character.
The number of point-of-sale operations in government agencies last year amounted to about 12 million operations, with a total value of 332 million dinars, while the number of online payment operations in government agencies reached 9 million operations, at an amount of 700 million dinars, while the number of government stamps issued amounted to 13 million with 161 million dinars. .
The total value of transactions executed through POS and ATM machines, in addition to transactions made through websites, jumped by about 34% to reach 34.28 billion dinars in 2021, compared to 25.582 billion in 2020, while its increase amounted to 34.06 percent compared to its level in 2019 amounting to 25.569 billion, and its growth reached 43.6 percent compared to what it was in 2018, when it reached 23.874 billion at the time.
As for the value of POS device transactions, it amounted to 13.385 billion dinars last year, an increase of 42 percent compared to its level in 2020, which amounted to 9.42 billion, while it recorded an increase of 23.9 percent compared to what it was in 2019 when it reached 10,803 billion at the time, while it witnessed a growth of 16.62 percent compared to its 2018 level of 11.478 billion.
As for the value of ATM transactions, it rose by 6.23 percent on an annual basis in 2021 to reach 10.734 billion dinars, compared to 10.104 billion in 2020, while it decreased by approximately 14 percent from its level in 2019 when it amounted to 12.479 billion at the time, and its decline reached 13.41 billion in percent compared to 2018, when it was 12.396 billion.
With regard to the value of transactions made via websites, it amounted to 10.16 billion dinars in 2021, registering a growth of 67.75% compared to its level in 2020 of 6.056 billion, while it recorded a jump of 344.35% compared to its level in 2019, which had reached 2.286 billion.