Description
Countries Covered:Â Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Kenya, Lebanon, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Tunisia, UAE, Uganda
Pages:Â 87
Publication Date:Â 20/02/2019
Questions Covered in the report:
- What are the major digital payment trends in the Middle East and Africa?
- How do payment method preferences of online shoppers vary between countries?
- How high is the share of digital buyers using cash on delivery in various countries of the Middle East and Africa?
- Which barriers prevent consumers from using online payments?
- What is the projected growth of mobile payments in the Middle East and Africa by 2022?
Key findings:
Cards and mobile wallets rival cash on delivery in MENA E-Commerce
Digital buyers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia pay in cash
Cash on delivery has been a top payment method used by online shoppers in countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia. However, recent surveys cited in the yStats.com report show that consumers are now becoming more comfortable with paying online. In the UAE, more than two-thirds of shoppers who paid online at least once by a card or a digital wallet will consistently choose this method in the future.
Payment preferences of online shoppers in Africa vary
The African continent shows diverse preferences of digital buyers when it comes to payment means. South Africa stands out with the majority of shoppers paying online by credit or debit card. In Egypt, digital wallets such as PayPal and CashU are popular; while in Uganda, more than one in two online shoppers choose to pay via mobile money services, according to data cited in the yStats.com report.
Mobile payments on the growth path in the Middle East and Africa
Mobile payment adoption is gradually taking off, driven by mobile wallets in the MENA region and mobile money in Sub-Saharan African countries, as shown in the yStats.com report. A number of mobile wallet solutions were rolled out over the past months, including Google Pay in the UAE and Apple Pay in Saudi Arabia. At the same time, mobile money services such as M-Pesa are helping drive financial inclusion in African countries, where card and bank account penetration rates are generally low double or even single digits.