Credited to be the master of Islamic banking in the GCC region, Bahrain has emerged as a financial hub with the highest number of financial institutions in the region. Additionally, Bahrain is also the largest fintech hub in the region as it has been constantly embracing technology over the years and its innovative approach has been bringing the best banking experience to its millions of customers.
It is reported that the digital payment industry in the GCC region will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 14.8% as projected in the forecast period of 2022-2028. Getting further into the reports, 95% of consumers in the MENA (The Middle East And North Africa) region are open to picking up digital payments such as QR codes, digital wallets, contactless, and more for quick and easy transactions. There has been a rise of 88% based on the number of consumers having access to digital payments since 2020 in the MENA region while most of them regarded digital payments as money-saving.
In 2015, Bahrain became the first country to introduce a real-time fund transfer service in GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) leading the digital transformation in the region. The digital payment industry of Bahrain has been exceptional in recent years as digitization of the financial sector has progressed fairly. As per the reports, the total transaction values based on digital payments will touch USD 1,877 million by the end of 2022. Projecting the forecast period between 2022-2027, the transaction value is expected to increase with a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 10.09% which amounts to a total of USD 3,036 million. The digital commerce segment is expected to lead the market contributing an estimated USD 1,695 million by 2022.
Making Digital Payments Eazy
Bahrain-based Eazy Financial Services B.S.C, one of the leading payment service providers in Bahrain has been phenomenal so far since its dawn in 2016. It has been regarded as one of the top 25 fintech companies in the Middle East as per several rating agencies in the region. The central bank of Bahrain has licensed the company and further regulated it. Eazy is the 5th Company in business to introduce an online payment gateway, POS, virtual accounts and payment cards, in the Kingdom of Bahrain. A principal acquirer member of VISA & MasterCard and also a channel acquirer partner with Amex, Eazy has been offering the best payment experience to its millions of customers in Bahrain.
Commending its genuine, safe and customer-friendly payment services, Eazy has been awarded ‘Most Trusted Payment Platform Bahrain 2022’, ‘Best Payment Network Bahrain 2022’ by International Business Magazine, a Dubai-based global publishing house.
As reported in September 2022, Eazy announced its collaboration with the Cayman Islands-based Binance, one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency & blockchain infrastructure service providers, introducing cryptocurrency payment option to the online payment gateway of Bahrain and to at least 5000 POS (Point of sale) terminals.
Cryptocurrency has been trending in Bahrain in recent years with companies accepting payments through cryptocurrencies such as bitcoins and more. Reportedly, Eazy’s cryptocurrency-based payment service offering is the first of its kind to be introduced in North Africa & Middle East region with approval and regulation from the Central Bank of Bahrain.
Harnessing the power of Digital Economy
With an ambitious vision, Bahrain aspires to go cashless by 2030 and is currently the rising player in innovations for digital payments in the GCC region. The kingdom has been constantly investing in technology to reshape its payment methods and infrastructure as it aspires to go completely digital. Reports suggest Bahrain’s revenues from digital transactions will generate USD 485 million by 2030, almost 2 times more than it is today while the transaction volume will further by 128% to USD 228 million by 2030.
Backed by Bahrain’s National Electronic Network for financial transactions (BENEFIT) which is accelerating the growth of sustainable and efficient digital payments for the country, the nation plans to introduce new-age payment products. It plans to take advantage of the huge number of internet users to bring a digital footprint in business enterprises, especially in small and medium scale ones. This would further boost the e-commerce sector of the nation. Contributing about 30% towards Bahrain’s GDP, Micro, small and medium enterprises is one of the nation’s economic backbone. BENEFIT is dedicated to offering digital tools to small merchants for receiving payments. In view of the vision to go cashless by 2030, BENEFIT reportedly plans on introducing on-soil payment processing infrastructure which aids consumers with online shopping services which in turn boosts the country’s economy.
Data security is of prime importance, and Bahrain is committed to investing in cybersecurity, that would ensure secure transactions across the nation from all over the globe.. Regarded as the first country to adopt ‘Cloud first’ policy in the MENA region, the Kingdom of Bahrain is wide open to collaborations with innovative technology companies from across the world to constantly enhance its digital infrastructure while enhancing the efficiency of the government online services and advancing towards becoming a digital hub in the MENA region.
Blog By Harish Rajulu
