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MEA Payments Market Analysis

Consumers in the Middle East and Africa are increasingly switching to contactless and electronic payments and continue to move away from cash use. The main reason for this change is the incredible speed at which payment technology is evolving in the Middle East and Africa. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16.2% during forecast period (2022 - 2027).

• As the global economy has evolved fast, mobile phones (particularly smartphones) have become vital to each individual's life. Furthermore, the internet has become an integral part of most people's daily lives worldwide. As a result, the number of smartphone and internet users has increased dramatically worldwide, resulting in a significant expansion of the payments industry.
• In January 2022, Telkom, a South African wireline and wireless telecommunications provider, announced that Telkom Kenya had launched an app for its mobile money product, T-Kash. T-Kash App is an easy-to-use application that will enable its customers to access a wider service offering on its digital financial services platform.
• According to Worldpay, as of 2020, cash was the most prevalent payment option for POS transactions in the Middle East and Africa (MEA), accounting for 52.6% of all POS transactions. Credit and debit cards came in second and third, with 16.6% and 10.6% of the market share in the same year. Cash is expected to be the most popular payment method by 2024. Digital wallets, including mobile money, will see large growth in use, with a share of 8.3% in 2020 rising to 16.8% in 2024.
• The mobile payments market is expected to develop over the projected period, owing to the growing acceptance of the M-commerce sector, which involves online commercial transactions using wireless devices such as smartphones.
• Furthermore, M-commerce allows consumers to trade from anywhere as long as wireless internet is available. Google and Apple, for example, have already launched their mobile shopping systems. Customers may make in-store purchases quickly using digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay instead of swiping their cards.
• Prepaid cards have considerably increased use as a cash substitute across Middle East and Africa. The rise in technology-driven products and services is driving the popularity of prepaid card payment options in this region. Furthermore, governments in the region are urging customers to utilize cashless payment methods such as digital and mobile wallets, boosting the use of prepaid cards in the region.
• The Covid-19 outbreak has resulted in a substantial shift in payment practice, including reducing cash payments, moving from in-store to online payment options, and adopting rapid settlements. These changes have opened up new possibilities for payment providers in Singapore.

MEA Payments Industry Segmentation

The payments market is segmented by two modes of payment - POS and e-commerce. E-commerce payments include online purchases of goods and services such as purchases made on e-commerce websites and online booking of travel and accommodation. However, it does not include online purchases of motor vehicles, real estate, utility bill payments (such as water, heating, and electricity), mortgage payments, loans, credit card bills, or purchases of shares and bonds. As for POS, all transactions that occur at the physical point of sale are included in the market scope. It includes traditional in-store transactions and all face-to-face transactions regardless of where they take place. Cash is also considered for both cases (cash-on-delivery for e-commerce sales).