According to International Data Corporation (IDC), the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (META) region is expected to spend $20 billion on digital transformation initiatives this year and up to $40 billion by 2022.
For its part, the UAE government has devoted significant spending to digital innovation and mobilized a number of private investments to ensure that the UAE establishes itself as a financial hub in the region.
The Al-Anba daily says so far, nearly 30 percent of fintech companies in the MENA region are based in the UAE.
Similarly, Saudi Arabia is also investing heavily in digital banking and has taken the initiative to introduce new and innovative banking models in line with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.
Saudi Arabia actually has the highest user rate when it comes to regional banking clients, with 76 percent of Saudi bank customers using digital platforms and 60 percent using internet and mobile applications.
Even before the pandemic, digital payments were growing rapidly. The number of consumer digital payments transactions in the UAE increased at an annual rate of more than 9 percent between 2014 and 2019, compared to an average of 4 to 5 percent of annual growth in Europe.
What is most evident is that the Kingdom witnessed a massive growth in card payments of more than 70 percent between February 2019 and January 2020.
The pandemic has fueled these impressive growth rates.
According to a survey conducted by McKinsey of those working in payments, more than 3 quarters (80 percent) estimated that non-cash payments had increased by more than 10 percent across the region as a result of the pandemic, while 43 percent believed that the increase was more than 20 percent. percent.
Data from some countries indicate higher growth rates, for example, digital point of sale transactions in the Kingdom doubled in the year to January 2021.