Saudi Payments, owned by the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia (SAMA), has achieved over 2.2 billion Point of Sale (PoS) transactions which were valued at over $60.5 billion during the first half (H1) of 2021.
The near-field communication (NFC) payment transactions posted a record increase of 147 percent compared to H1 2020, with over 2.1 billion transactions valued at over $54.1 billion, accounting for 94 percent of total PoS transactions, as per the results from the national payment scheme “mada”.
Further, the results reveal an overall surge of 310 percent in payment transactions through smart devices, with more than 724 million transactions in H1 2021 at a total value surpassing 56 billion riyals, representing over 34 percent of all NFC transactions at PoS terminals.
In June 2021, the number of shops accepting mada eCommerce payment method showed an exceptional growth of 450 percent which reach more than 28 thousand. The results also demonstrated a 112 percent increase in eCommerce transactions completed via “mada” to around 146 million, with a total value of over $8.27 billion up by 99 percent compared to the same period last year.
Saudi Payments attributed the record results achieved by “mada” to its digital infrastructure, which it has developed to expand digital payments in the Kingdom as per Saudi Vision 2030’s Financial Sector Development Program, which seeks to achieve 70 percent electronic transactions by 2030.
The achievements of Saudi Payment’s contributes towards accomplishing SAMA’s strategy of boosting electronic payment transaction rates by offering safe, secure, reliable, and effective solutions, and connecting local and global payment services in line with the best international practices.
