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•Domestic market spends grew 17 per cent
•Growth driven by restaurants (up 27 per cent) fashion (12 per cent), supermarkets (12 per cent) and public services (49 per cent)
Dubai - Overall spending in the UAE has increased by 14 per cent as compared to last Ramadan, according to a new report by Network International, the leading payment solutions provider in the MENA region. The report, based on credit or debit card transactions by country during the period of Ramadan 2015*, found that the major surge came from stronger domestic market spends with a 17 per cent growth in spending, while international spends also witnessed overall growth of seven per cent. During Ramadan, domestic spend - spend on UAE issued credit and debit cards - was 75 per cent of total spending.
David Mountain, Chief Commercial Officer, Network International, commented: "The coinciding of the Islamic calendar with the traditionally quieter summer months in the UAE has given rise to interesting variations in spends, with the market still registering a strong overall increase. Domestic spend of locals and expatriates based in the UAE becomes particularly important during these months. Network International's data provides retailers and businesses useful insight and guidance while formulating marketing and sell strategies as it indicates which nationalities affect spending and influence overall sales."
Who were the biggest spenders?
North Americans were 7 per cent of total spend and GCC were 3 per cent, and their spend increases grew in line with domestic spend. The rest of world spend, which is 15 per cent of total spend was flat, driven by significant shrinking from the Russians (down 30 per cent), the Chinese (down 22 per cent) and the Germans (down 8 per cent). This seems to reflect recent economic turmoil in all three countries. The UK and Saudis had the largest growth amongst the foreign spend. Nigerians represented 3 per cent of foreign spend (1 per cent of total) breaking into the top 10 nationalities for the first time.
Where did they spend?
In the hotel sector, spending growth was a modest 5 per cent, and almost half of this spend came from UAE residents taking advantage of Ramadan packages for domestic travel. This domestic tendency was even more pronounced in restaurants, who saw domestic spend accounting for 83 per cent of the total spend. Driven by this spend, restaurants enjoyed an increase of 27 per cent spending as compared to last year. The malls found things more challenging - spending was flat for jewelry and high-end watches, but fashion witnessed a growth of 12 per cent in terms of absolute spend, driven in part by a surge in Nigerian spending. In addition supermarkets saw an increase of 12 per cent indicating an increase in household consumption during Ramadan.
Services generally performed well versus 2014, with professional services and government services up well over 25 per cent versus last year. These sectors, as is typical, are largely domestic spending.
•Data incudes spends between Ramadan 2015 (June 18 - July 16) benchmarked against Ramadan 2014 (June 29 - July 27).
•The data is not comprehensive or full retail sales data - it does not include cash transactions, nor does it cover 100% of card transactions in the UAE
•The data measures the nominal value of transactions processed by Network International and is not adjusted for inflation
•A rise in the value of transactions may not be entirely due to increased real demand
•The geographic breakdown is based on the country in which the card was issued, which may not reflect the nationality or permanent residence of the spender
•This data is a useful, timely indicator of spending trends in the UAE. Network International processes more than 50 per cent of all transactions across UAE.
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About Network International
Established in 1994, Network International LLC is the largest acquirer in the UAE, and a leading payment solutions provider in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA). The company's service offering comprises a comprehensive range of payment products and services for both the Issuing and Acquiring segments of banks, financial institutions and retail merchants. This includes credit, debit and prepaid card processing, ATM management and monitoring, merchant acquiring and processing, fraud management, e-commerce services and mobile solutions for the payments industry, with the objective of enabling speedy, secure and convenient payment transactions for customers. In addition, the company offers several value-add products including data analytics, scoring and loyalty solutions. Network International has Operation centers in the UAE, Egypt and India, with its corporate head office in Dubai. The company continues to invest in strategic partnerships that will increasingly see its influence spread across the region.
Network International is a Principal Member of Visa International and MasterCard International in the UAE and enjoys extension of its MasterCard License in other key countries. It is also a member of JCB and Union Pay card schemes, and it owns and manages the Diners Club International Franchise in the UAE, Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan. In 2013, the company launched a GCC based domestic scheme, Mercury, and partnered with Discover Financial Services (DFS) to allow global acceptance of Mercury cards on the Discover, Diners Club International and PULSE networks. Network International, a Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) certified company, is also a major player in the international remittance industry and owns a majority stake in Times of Money Ltd., a leading global online remittance and digital payments company facilitating cross-border remittances and domestic payments in emerging economies.
For further information on Network International, please contact:
Tricia Rego
ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller
Dubai, UAE
Tel: 971-4-4507600 Fax: 971-4-4358040
Email: tricia.rego@bm.com
© Press Release 2015
