UAE consumer spending surpasses pre-pandemic level: Network

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Consumer spending in the UAE surpassed the pre-pandemic level in the first quarter to drive growth in merchant solutions, Network International, a leading digital payments solutions provider, said on Wednesday.

Network, which recorded a 33% surge in first-quarter revenue, saw the total value of domestic payments processed (Total Processed Volumes or TPV) increasing increase by 22% year on year in Q1 2022 as consumer spending remained buoyant.

“Robust tourism and business travel supported by events such as Expo 2020 Dubai led to a sharp rise in international TPV, which grew 120% year on year. Domestic and international TPV are now 20% and 9% respectively, ahead of their pre-pandemic levels in Q1 2019,” said the company.

Nandan Mer, chief executive officer, said the home market of the UAE is seeing a continued improvement in consumer spending and increasing numbers of international visitors, driving accelerated growth in both domestic and international TPV. This has been supported by customer wins and capability launches, including becoming the first acquirer to offer “buy-now-pay-later” in Jordan.

Network secured a large number of new merchant wins, including Emirates Hospital Group, The Residences at Caesars Palace, Bluewater, and Landmark Group, many of which were from competitors. It also secured several new merchants from the opening of the new Dubai Hills Mall. “Strong SME demand led to a 10% sequential increase in new SME wins between March and February alone, a trend the company expects to capitalise on with the launch of its new, fully digital onboarding process for SMEs in the coming weeks,” said Network.

Network said it is in the process of onboarding its new processing customer in Saudi Arabia and has a healthy new business pipeline in the country. The company expects the kingdom to become a key market, as the adoption of digital payments continues to accelerate in line with Vision 2030.