Market Trends of Qatar Payments Industry
Digital Wallet (Including Mobile Wallets) to Witness Growth
- The use of e-wallets and digital wallets has seen significant growth in over-the-counter or physical retail purchases, with a large proportion of consumers using e-wallets to make payments at retailers' outlets.
- E-wallets are not only convenient for small businesses and consumers but also more secure. It does not require small businesses to keep cash on hand in order to store the records of transactions. The added benefits of e-wallets and allowing consumers to pay for goods and services through them in retail stores are taken into account by SMEs and small retailers.
- The number of e-wallets or digital wallets across cities is increasing as a result of the rising population across the country, leading to conjunctive growth. As e-wallet payment becomes viable across channels, major e-wallet players such as CashU, Samsung Pay, and WeChat Pay venture deeper into rural areas to secure more widespread adoption at physical stores in the country.
- Global businesses are increasingly looking at the market as an attractive opportunity to offer their e-wallet services for retail stores through partnerships with them due to the proliferation of online or electronic wallets in Qatar.
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Retail Sector to Witness Significant Growth
- Electronic transactions are increasingly used for retail transactions, digital payment infrastructure and services, and underbanked segments of consumers and merchants. Nevertheless, rapid change is taking place due to new initiatives by governments and regulations, as well as the opening of new payment networks in different parts of the country.
- In order to increase digital innovation and stay relevant in a competitive market, banks and financial institutions have outsourced their payment platform technology and operational functions to third parties. In order to respond to changing client needs, they relied on these reliable, flexible retail payment services that could be rapidly expanded. By providing complementary services that allow them to meet the needs of their clients without investing heavily in technology, third-party solutions enabled them to fill technological gaps.
- In recent years, due to changes in end users' payment habits, payment innovation, technical progress, and the entry of new providers, the retail payment landscape in Qatar has undergone a significant transformation.
- Moreover, financial transactions are carried out through electronic methods. They are a major convenience for consumers and retailers, speeding up the payment process and improving customer experience.
- Moreover, Qatar's online shopping business has grown rapidly in recent years due to increasing internet penetration, smartphone adoption, and consumers' willingness to buy abroad. The expanding physical infrastructure and regulatory framework created to facilitate online commerce in this dynamic sector could be used by businesses that are new to the country. According to Speedtest, Qatar boasts some of the fastest average mobile internet connections, registering average median speeds of over 189.98 Mbps as of September 2023.
