Saudi Arabia is leading the way in contactless payment

Saudi Arabia is implementing several measures to ensure the smooth digital transformation of its economy. The success of these steps can be gauged by the fact that the Kingdom recently reported a very high adoption rate of contactless payments through near-field communication (NFC) with 94 percent — the highest in the Middle East and North Africa, above the EU’s average and ahead of Hong Kong and Canada.

This featured in a white paper published by Saudi Payments, a fully owned subsidiary of the Saudi Central Bank, in partnership with Visa.

Entitled “NFC contactless adoption in Saudi Arabia 2020,” the document showed NFC penetration in the EU (80 percent), Hong Kong (79 percent) and Canada (76 percent), as well as in the MENA region, where Kuwait and the UAE had an 81 percent adoption rate.

The introduction of electronic payments in the Kingdom started in 1990 when SAMA launched the Saudi Payment Network system to encourage e-transactions.

Later, SAMA introduced other systems, such as SARIE in 1997, which provided a mechanism for all Saudi commercial banks to make and settle payments in Saudi riyals. Then came the SADAD payment system in 2005, which was the first national electronic bill presentment and payment service provider.