Cashless transactions in Bahrain spiked 13.1 per cent to BD309 million last month when compared with the same month of 2021, reveals data from the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB).

A total of 12,360,390 point-of-sale (PoS) and e-commerce transactions were recorded in the kingdom during July 2022, 72.4pc of them contactless, the banking regulator said.

The figures reflect a surge in online and digital payments that started in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The highest number of transactions last month were carried out in restaurants (4,416,878), followed by supermarkets (2,595,571), government services (690,230), clothing and footwear stores (669,627) and healthcare providers (636,388).

In terms of value, government services at BD91.5m led the top five sectors, with restaurants at BD36.7m coming next, followed by supermarkets (BD29.6m), hotels and resorts (BD17.8m) and clothing and footwear stores (BD17.1m).

The infographic shows electronic fund transfers in the kingdom increased during July 2022, extending the rising trend to more than eighteen months.

Transactions using Fawri, Fawri+ and Fawateer services, enabled by the electronic fund transfer system (EFTS), continue to see substantial growth.

Fawri+ is an almost real-time fund transfer service which allows individuals or entities to transfer funds of up to BD1,000 per day in less than 30 seconds; whereas Fawri is a deferred settlement fund transfer service which allows individuals or entities to transfer any amount within a few hours of the business day, and Fawateer provides real-time bill payments.

Last month, Fawri+ accounted for the vast majority (91.8pc) of EFTS transactions, followed by Fawri at 4.3pc and Fawateer at 3.9pc.

However, in terms of transaction value, Fawri was the leader at 69.1pc, followed by Fawri+ at 27pc and Fawateer at 3.9pc.

The number of transactions completed through Fawri+ in July 2022 amounted to 21,183,898, up 62.87pc from the same month last year.

In terms of value, Fawri transactions amounted to BD1,355.65m last month, up 16.11pc from July 2021.

Also presented by the CBB was last month’s record of real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system transactions, where the value of interbank transactions was BD7.024bn (3,257 in volume), while customer deals added up BD719m (18,797 in volume).

Further reinforcing the move to cashless spending was the 2.05pc year-on-year rise in the value of successful payment gateway transactions to BD70.6m.

Over the same period there has been by a 10.98pc drop in volume of successful ATM withdrawals to 1.17m and a decline of 4.61pc in their value to BD114.6m.

avinash@gdnmedia.bh

© Copyright 2020 www.gdnonline.com

Copyright 2022 Al Hilal Publishing and Marketing Group Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).