The Central Bank of Saudi Arabia announced that the share of electronic payments in the retail sector – individuals will reach 62% for the year 2022 AD out of the total available payment operations, including cash, in the Kingdom, exceeding the target percentage within the financial sector development program – one of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 programs – which was set at 60. % for the year 2022 AD.
The achievement of this percentage coincided with the continuous and accelerated growth witnessed by the payments sector in the Kingdom during the past years, as a result of the significant and remarkable development in the payment infrastructure in the Kingdom, and the accompanying improvement and development of existing payment systems and the launch of new payment systems and modern services, in addition to the progress made The payments sector witnessed it in all aspects, organizational, technical and operational, all of which contributed to promoting the shift towards reliance on modern electronic payment methods.
On the other hand, the number of card payments through the national payment system “Mada” recorded an unprecedented record during the year 2022 AD, as the number of card transactions executed through POS devices in the Kingdom reached 7.2 billion, a growth rate of 40 percent compared to the previous year. Mada card operations executed via the Internet also witnessed a growth of 76 percent compared to the previous year, bringing the number of transactions executed to 610 million during the year 2022 AD, in addition to the growth in the number of POS devices spread across the Kingdom by 42 percent compared to the previous year, to reach 1.4 million devices by the end of the year. 2022 AD.
It is worth noting that the Saudi Central Bank seeks to enhance its approach to expansion and digital transformation towards electronic payments. And the development of the supporting infrastructure to activate the use of electronic channels and encourage dealing with them, as this achievement comes as a result of the implementation of the strategic plans of the Central Bank for the payments sector, aimed at enhancing electronic payment, and reducing dependence on cash transactions; To reach the percentage of electronic payments to 70 percent by 2025 AD, in addition to concerted efforts with the government and private sectors; To implement several initiatives supporting the digitization of payments.
Okaz (Riyadh)
