BENEFIT reaches 12.5b Bahraini Dinars worth of electronic financial transactions in 2022

By Leandra Monteiro

BENEFIT, the Kingdom of Bahrain’s innovator and FinTech and electronic financial transactions service, announced that it reached total volume of 113.7 million for all electronic fund transfer transactions (Fawri, Fawri+ and Fawateer) through BenefitPay during the first half of 2022, which is a 92% increase in volume compared to the first half of 2021.

The online payments under the Electronic Fund Transfer System (EFTS), consisting of Fawri+, Fawri and Fawateer, are continuing to see significant growth during the first half of 2022, as demonstrated by the volume increase of 85%, as the total volume increased from 65.7 in the first half of 2021 to 121.3 million in the first half of 2022. The volume of payments made in the first half of 2021 using Fawri+ is 55.8 million compared to 108.7 million in the first half of 2022, a growth of 95%.

Fawri+ transactions over all channels soared by 50%, with a total value of over BD 2.9 billion in the first half of 2022, increasing from BD 1.9 billion in the first half of 2021. Fawri+ transactions through BenefitPay’s application in the first half of 2022 reached a total value of approximately BD 2.7 billion, in comparison to approximately BD 1.8 billion in the first half of 2021, a growth of 51%.

Fawri transactions over all channels increased by 23% as their value in the first half of 2022 exceeded BD 9 billion, compared to approximately BD 7 billion during the first half of 2021. Furthermore, the fund transfer service has gained a total value of around BD 385 million in the first half of 2022, through the Benefit application, compared to around BD 250 million in the first half of 2021, showing an increase of 54%.

As for Fawateer transactions over all channels, there has been an increase of 44%, with their total value in the first half of 2022 exceeding BD 443 million, up from over BD 308 million in the first half of 2021. Fawateer transactions through the BenefitPay application reached a total value exceeding BD 90 million, a significant increase of 71% from the first half of 2021’s total value of approximately BD 53 million.

The electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC) platform totaled up to 212,663 verifications during the first half of 2022, in comparison to 73,586 verifications in the first half of 2021, demonstrating a 189% increase.

Furthermore, the Bahrain Credit Reference Bureau (BCRB) operated under BENEFIT, issued a total of 127,143 credit reports in the first half of 2022, up from 119,022 credit reports in the first half of 2021, a 6.8% increase.