UK fintech leader Paymentology expands into the Middle East’s $200 billion digital payments market

With the rapid digitisation, the Middle East’s payments market is set to undergo a sea change with technology driving the change in consumer behaviour across the region

News Highlights:

1. Digital payments or eCommerce payment market jumped ten-fold from US$20 billion in 2017 to a whopping US$200 billion in 2020, according to reports.

2. The MENA region has million unique online shoppers – and the numbers are growing.

3. The number of non-cash transactions surged nearly 14 percent from 2018-2019 to reach 708.5 billion transactions worldwide, the highest growth rate recorded in the past decade.

4. Worldwide digital payments market will jump to a record $4.7 trillion (Dh17.25 trillion) transaction value this year, with a 15.3 percent year-over-year growth rate. This rising trend is set to continue in the following years, with the entire market reaching $6.7 trillion (Dh24.5 trillion) by 2023.

Paymentology, an innovative payment technology solutions provider, targets Middle East’s US$200 billion digital payments market by setting up its regional office in Dubai recently.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region accounts for four million unique online shoppers. In the last three years, e-commerce transactions jumped ten-fold or 1000 percent from US$20 billion in 2017 to a whopping US$200 billion in 2020, according to a latest report.

Paymentology’s entry in the Middle East market comes at a time when demand for contactless and non-cash transactions soared after the COVID-19, prompting businesses and financial institutions to shift towards the digital and smart payment solutions.

“The Middle East region has a huge potential for growth in the financial technology and digital payments market and our entry in the region is well timed,” Shane O’Hara, CEO of Paymentology, said. “In order to penetrate the market, we decided to set up an office in the UAE – the most advanced country in the region in terms of technology adoption.

“This move enables us now to understand the ground reality and develop our growth strategy. We have already started to meet potential partners and customers to offer our innovative products that will change the way people make payments and the way financial institutions process those payments – seamlessly and in a very secured manner – that ensures data security of the clients.”

Covid-19 has accelerated the need for digitisation. With online purchases rising, consumers are now demanding customer-centric and flexible solutions. This coupled with a lack of trust and an ever-evolving regulatory landscape, banks and financial institutions need to act fast to ensure compliance and deliver with operational agility. Paymentology’s platform enables its clients to be as agile and flexible as consumers demand.

The number of non-cash transactions surged nearly 14 percent from 2018-2019 to reach 708.5 billion transactions worldwide, the highest growth rate recorded in the past decade.

Global payments revenues recorded 6 percent growth to a whopping $1.9 trillion (Dh7 trillion) in 2018, according to McKinsey and Company’s Global Payments Report 2019. Europe, Middle East and Africa represented US$300 billion.

According to data gathered by LearnBonds.com, the worldwide digital payments market will jump to a record $4.7 trillion (Dh17.25 trillion) transaction value this year, with a 15.3 percent year-over-year growth rate. This rising trend is set to continue in the following years, with the entire market reaching $6.7 trillion (Dh24.5 trillion) by 2023.

Shane O’Hara says the Middle East’s payment market is fast shifting to digital and mobile – through mobile apps.

“With nearly half of the population below the age of 25, we see a huge growth potential in the digital payments market, especially in a few years’ time when most of these tech-savvy young men and women start their career as professionals and businesspersons. They are not going to stand in a queue and wait for their numbers to make payments – that is going to be history.

“And we are here on the ground to help payment processors to migrate their payments technology to the next level that is safe, secure and more effective,” he said.

Launched in 2015 and with accreditations to operate globally, Paymentology is firmly positioned as a leader in the payment processing world. It has been chosen by banks such as Revolut and Standard Chartered's Mox Bank to support their ground-breaking and highly customer centric payment programmes.

The technical expertise of its people and understanding of the banking space, mean that Paymentology can continuously innovate its services to enable our customers to deliver competitive payment products to the market.