What are the most commonly used e-wallets in the Middle East? A comprehensive breakdown of the leading payment methods in 2024

Middle East Electronic Payments Market Overview

The digital payments industry in the Middle East has experienced unprecedented rapid growth in recent years. As smartphone penetration climbs and internet infrastructure improves, more and more consumers are turning to e-wallets as a convenient payment method. According to statistics, mobile payment transactions in the Middle East grew by 35% in 2023 compared to the previous year, and the market size is expected to exceed $50bn by 2025.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt are the main countries driving this growth. The governments of these countries are actively promoting a cashless society and have introduced a number of policies to encourage the development of electronic payments. For example, Saudi Arabia's "Vision 2030" clearly sets out the goal of increasing the proportion of non-cash transactions, while the UAE has stimulated the adoption of digital payments by lowering fees and other measures.

In terms of religious culture, Sharia-compliant fintech solutions (i.e. Sharia-compliant fintech) are particularly important in the Middle East market. Many locally developed e-wallets have placed special emphasis on the compliance of their products with Islamic financial principles, which has become one of their key advantages in attracting users.

Analysis of mainstream e-wallets in the Gulf region

STC PayAs the financial services platform of Saudi Telecom Company, it has become the leader in the local Saudi market. The app not only provides basic money transfer and bill payment functions, but also expands rich offline usage scenarios through cooperation with local merchants. By the end of 2023, the number of registered users had exceeded the 8 million mark.

From the UAEBeam WalletFocused on serving the expatriate labour community - a significant proportion of the Gulf population that has traditionally faced high remittance costs - Beam has quickly gained market share with competitive exchange rates and low fees and plans to expand into neighbouring countries.

Qatar's Qatar Mobile Payment (QMP) system, which is fully supported by the Central Bank and integrated into the national retail network, has achieved a high level of local penetration, particularly in the area of payment for government services, with millions of transactions processed each month.

Popular choices in North Africa and the Levant

Egyptian local brands FawryLong a dominant player in the country's digital payments ecosystem, it is unique in that it helps the unbanked to access basic financial services through 100,000 agent locations in urban and rural areas, and this hybrid "online + offline" model has led to steady growth in its user base, which currently stands at around 40 million active accounts.

Developed in Jordan Mahfazti(meaning "my savings") is a latecomer to the market, but it has risen quickly thanks to its simple, easy-to-use interface and exclusive partnership with the government's public transport system, which has made it popular, especially among young people, and its valuation of US$120 million after a recent round of funding signals that investors are optimistic about its prospects.

Lebanon's economic crisis has given rise to Touch Payments(launched by telecom operator Touch), an alternative financial instrument that allows users to make daily purchases in foreign currencies in an environment of severe currency depreciation, effectively avoiding the risk of local currency fluctuations, thus making the average daily volume of transactions a special phenomenon at a special time.

Comparison of cross-border and internationalised e-wallets

Chinese giant Alipay, online payment platform(Alipay) has gradually opened up the high-end retail market in the Middle East through strategic cooperation with Majid Al Futtaim and other regional business groups, especially in Dubai Mall and other places with a high concentration of Chinese tourists, where the coverage rate has reached more than 90%, but there is still room for improvement in the localisation...

Also from Asia PayNow(SINGAPORE) Leveraging on the strong economic and trade ties between the two countries, with a focus on serving the business community, the Singapore-United Arab Emirates corridor has gained a significant share in processing cross-border transfers averaging more than SGD100 million per quarter and growing at a steady rate...

In contrast, the representative of the United States PayPalAlthough it is well known globally, it is facing problems in the Middle East, mainly due to its lack of compatibility with Islamic finance and the fact that some advanced functions are not available due to the impact of sanctions, resulting in a long-term market share hovering around 5%, making it difficult to break through the...

Forecast of future development trends

The BNPL (buy now pay later) model is being integrated by a growing number of local platforms such as Tamara in Saudi Arabia and Cashew in the UAE which have both gained significant user bases suggesting that credit-based services will be the next stage of competition...
Blockchain technology is also seen as a potential disruptive force Bahrain's compliant crypto wallets such as CoinMENA have begun to try to break down the barriers between digital currencies and traditional business scenarios...
Central Banks Digital Currency (CBDC) projects are starting up and could reshape the industry e.g. Digital Dirham (Dubai) + Digital Riyal (KSA) could go live for testing in the next three years...

Future Trends in the Middle East E-Wallet Market

The rapid rise of the BNPL (buy now pay later) model

The Middle East has witnessed explosive growth in BNPL services in recent years, with the payment method particularly suited to the shopping habits of younger consumers in the region. According to statistics, the Middle East BNPL market size has reached $1.2 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow to $3.5 billion by 2026.

TamaraAs the leading BNPL platform in Saudi Arabia, it has partnered with over 5,000 online and offline merchants. The key to its success is:

• 0% interest instalment option available
• Simplified registration process (only mobile phone number and ID required)
• Service design in line with Islamic finance principles

EmiratesCashewOn the other hand, it focuses on the high-end retail sector, with an average transaction value of up to Dh800 (about $220) per transaction, mainly serving high-priced goods purchase scenarios such as electronics and luxury goods.

Notably, traditional e-wallets such as STC Pay have also begun to integrate BNPL functionality, signalling the industry's move towards "super-applications" - i.e., the integration of payment, credit, investment and other financial services on a single platform.

Exploration of Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency Payments

Gulf countries are showing a forward-looking stance in the application of blockchain technology:

1. CoinMENA BahrainRapid development after obtaining full licence

   • Support BTC/ETH and other mainstream cryptocurrency trading
   • Launches API solution for the enterprise
   • Quarterly growth rate of subscribers maintained at over 30%

2. Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has set out a clear regulatory framework to attract global crypto firms to the city Several exchanges, including Binance, have set up their regional headquarters...

3. Practical application cases continue to emerge

   • Some UAE property developers accept cryptocurrency for home purchases
   • Saudi Aramco supplier tries out blockchain settlement system to improve cross-border payment efficiency...

However, challenges remain, such as high price volatility + lack of awareness among the average consumer, which has led to a lower than expected adoption rate in everyday payment scenarios, which is currently being used primarily for investment purposes rather than as a replacement for traditional e-wallets.

CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) development process

Expert analyses of the Gulf states' main motivations for moving forward with CBDC include:
✓ Reduced reliance on the SWIFT system
✓ Enhancing the efficiency of monetary policy implementation
✓ Responding to competitive pressures from stablecoins

However, in the short term, CBDC is more likely to be used as an interbank infrastructure rather than a direct public-facing product and therefore will have limited impact on the existing e-wallet landscape...