Online cross-border payments by Saudi-based individuals boost financial support – Report

Online cross-border payments by Saudi-based individuals boost financial support – Report

Riyadh – Mubasher: A recent report by Mastercard indicated that around 51% of people in Saudi Arabia believed that online cross-border payments helped their families and friends abroad over the past 12 months to overcome economic challenges.

More than half of people in the Kingdom who conducted the transactions said their recipients would have struggled financially without that support. This is compared to 40% of people around the globe who believed the same.

The research covered nearly 8,000 users across 15 different markets, highlighting that 52% of residents in Saudi Arabia sent more money to their families abroad in 2021 than in the pre-COVID-19 period.

In the past 12 months, the Kingdom witnessed 30% of the people making or receiving more cross-border payments. Some 73% of consumers in the country sent money abroad as the pandemic affected the economic environment.

About 48% of the people noted that families overseas are still struggling to recover financially. Meanwhile, around 52% mentioned that the most important feature of online cross-border payments is ensuring funds are delivered through mobile app within 24 hours.

Although 89% of people in Saudi Arabia were claimed to be confident that their money will arrive in due time, 90% of the Saudi-based individuals revealed