Cashless payments in Bahrain up by 13%

TDT | Manama                                          

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

Reported by Zahra Ayaz

More than 12 million cashless transactions were recorded in Bahrain last month, which is 13% more than in January 2022, according to the Central Bank of Bahrain’s most recent data.

According to Infographics released by the regulator, overall transactions in January 2023 – including point of sale and online sales – amounted to BD320.7 million, 10.4 percent more than during the same month last year.

As many as 76.8pc of the 14,162,710 transactions were contactless, reflecting a shift in behaviour among customers who previously primarily paid cash or were moderate card spenders. According to data, restaurants (4,930,931), supermarkets (3,024,452), government services (967,567), health services (757,870), and department stores (580,775) were the businesses with the most transactions in January 2023.

Government services ranked first among the top five industries in terms of value, followed by restaurants (BD39.4 million), supermarkets (BD30 million), hotels and resorts (BD16.6 million), and auto dealers (BD94.3 million).

The report shows electronic fund transfers in the kingdom increased during January 2022, extending the rising trend to more than two years. Transactions using Fawri, Fawri+ and Fawateer services, enabled by the electronic fund transfer system (EFTS), continue to see substantial growth, cumulatively amounting to 26,972,898 last month.

The number of transactions completed through Fawri+ in January 2023 amounted to 24,696,138, up 48.9pc from the same month last year. In terms of the value of usage for each service, Fawri was the leader at 70.7pc, followed by Fawri+ at 25pc and Fawateer at 4.3pc.

Fawri transactions amounted to BD1.59 billion last month, up 15.1pc from January 2022, whereas Fawri+ deals added up to a total of BD564.8 million. Also presented by the CBB was last month’s record of real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system transactions, where the value of interbank transactions was BD8.73 billion, 16.1pc higher than the same month last year.

Data shows that the value of successful payment gateway transactions was BD63.6 million and the volume was 1.28m. There has been a 7.9pc drop in the volume of successful ATM withdrawals to 1.09 million, with their value slipping 4.4pc to BD107.19 million. Summarising the report, the CBB said in a statement: “Regionally and globally, the growth of digital payments has been on a steady rise in recent years.

It has been supported by the proliferation of new technologies along with changes in consumer behaviour. “These changes have helped in the emergence of electronic and e-commerce transactions as a powerful source of revenue for organisations and also, as an opportunity for expansion.”