The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia sees a surge in digital payments transactions amid the outbreak of Covid-19. It is reported that digital transactions surged over 75 percent last year as consumers adhered more to online shopping during the pandemic, while ATM usage and other payments points recorded 30 percent slump over the same period.
Point of sale (PoS) is the place where consumers carry out transactions for goods and services. Furthermore, the points can be redeemed through credit card while purchasing apparel or through digital payments at a restaurant or food delivery application.
Talat Zaki Hafiz, economist, told the media, “The total number of the PoS operations in 2020 amounted to about 2.8 billion, an increase of 75 percent compared with the same period in the previous year. The value of operations amounted to about SR349 billion ($93.7 billion), an increase of nearly 24.1 percent compared with the same period in 2019. These statistics and indices confirm the increasing and steady demand by people and businesses to use e-payment technologies through PoS devices. The trend of increased online shopping and e-payment will continue even after the coronavirus crisis ends. More than 60 percent of Saudis are under 30, “which means that society is more geared toward electronic dealings and electronic banking.”
The number of PoS devices operating in the Kingdom also surged by the 2020 end to over 700,000, marking a 70 percent surge since the beginning of 2020.
The pandemic has battered the global economy. However, the e-commerce sector is performing better than any other industry.