In 2022, will digital payment play a significant role in the UAE?

By Puja Sharma

The global pandemic is one of the major factors driving U.A.E. consumers to turn more digital about payments. In order to make payments and transfer money, people started adopting digital methods (e-wallets, payment links, etc.), according to the blog published by Payit.

A look at the digital payments trends to watch in the UAE in 2022 and the future of payments in the region.

Is the UAE embracing digital payments?

As UAE’s digitally advanced population realized the convenience of making payments through online banking, mobile wallets, and payment links, digital payments have already started growing in 2018. With the recent introduction of the Global Data Privacy Laws in the UAE, digital payments now have regulatory support for making secure payments without compromising customer information.

In the UAE, newer and innovative ways of digital payments are being developed as financial technology is adopted by more banks and financial services companies. 2022 will be the ‘Digital Payment Revolution’ year.

Here are few digital payments trends to watch in the UAE in 2022

As a leading country in the digital banking space of all the middle eastern countries, UAE has 97% of consumers willing to try new digital payment methods within the following year. Although the majority of the population in the country uses credit/debit cards to make payments, 88% of the transactions in 2021 in the UAE were contactless.

QR (Quick Response) Code Payments

This is also a POS payment type where you can scan the QR codes at the POS terminal that will connect you to the payment gateway and make the payments faster without adding the merchant’s bank details.

QR codes store the merchant’s bank information and integrate the payment details when you scan the code with the merchant’s bank account. Once you scan the code, you can make the payment and approve the transaction.

E-wallets

E-wallets allow you to store, access, use and send money through mobile applications on your phone while also keeping track of all your transactions. Often called mobile wallets, e-wallets are faster, safer, and more convenient ways of digital payments.

The amount of convenience it offers to consumers makes it the most popular mode of digital payments in 2022 in the United Arab Emirates.

Biometric Payments

It is a type of Point of Sale (POS) technology that uses biometric authentication methods to identify the cardholder and process payments. Most commonly, cardholders’ fingerprints are used as biometric payments. The entire procedure is faster, smoother, and secure, requiring no cash, card, or physical contact with the POS device.

Integrated Payment Links

The payment links are gaining momentum this year, and many service providers are using them. Payment links typically store the payment details as a URL that takes you to another web page to complete the payment transaction.

Apart from the above, virtual cards, digital currencies, etc., are also gaining pace in the UAE. Among all, the mobile wallet is considered one of the most-used digital payment methods.

Cards with NFC capabilities

Cards with Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities are credit/debit cards that have a chip with the wi-fi symbol embedded in them. Paying with a card is as easy as tapping your card on a POS terminal.

Your card does not need to be swiped nor do you need to enter any PIN information. Digital payment trends such as NFC-enabled cards are also gaining momentum at an accelerated rate.