Bahrain’s cashless payments surge to $3.62b in H1-21

Dubai: The number of POS and Ecommerce transactions in Bahrain shot up by 65 per cent in August, year-on-year, reaching a total value of nearly $744 million during the month, after topping $3.62 billion in the first-half of 2021.

According to new figures from the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), there were more than 11.3 million digital transactions in Bahrain last month, valued at BD279.6 million ($743.7 million). The value of e-commerce and point-of-sale (PoS) payments rose by 50 per cent in August 2021 compared to the same month last year. There were more than 53 million digital payments in the first-half of 2021, the data shows.

Bahrain’s national electronic wallet, BenefitPay, announced a 785 per cent increase in the number of remittances through its Fawri+ service in 2020 – exceeding $5 million.

“The Kingdom has a proven track record of reacting quickly to embrace emerging financial technologies and flexibly regulate them,” said Dalal Buhejji, Executive Director of Business Development Investment Origination at the Bahrain Economic Development Board. “Our regulatory approach, along with our advanced digital infrastructure, is why we are at the forefront of developing the technologies, solutions and ecosystems that will form the future of the region’s digital economy.”

The figures reflect the trend in the rest of the GCC, which is currently experiencing a region-wide surge in online and digital payments as countries accelerate their transition towards cashless societies in the wake of the pandemic.