‎Consumer spending via POS transactions up 10% to SAR 88.57 bln in February: SAMA

‎Consumer spending via POS transactions up 10% to SAR 88.57 bln in February: SAMA

Consumer spending in Saudi Arabia rose by 10% to nearly SAR 88.57 billion in February, from SAR 80.23 billion during the same period last year, according to the Saudi Central Bank's (SAMA) monthly bulletin.

Consumer spending includes total cash withdrawals, point-of-sale (POS) sales and e-commerce sales through “Mada” as the following table shows:

POS transactions grew by 25% to SAR 38.88 billion in February from SAR 31.05 billion in the same month last year.

Data showed that a total of 496.3 million transactions were processed through 1.09 million POS devices in February.

POS transactions represent what is spent by consumers using their ATM cards and credit cards in shopping malls, retail stores, pharmacies, etc.

The following table shows the development of POS transactions:

Cash withdrawals declined by 7% to SAR 41.7 billion in February from SAR 45.01 billion last year.

The withdrawals were processed through 16,500 ATMs and through 113.8 million transactions.

E-commerce sales through Mada cards increased to SAR 8.02 billion in February, a 92% increase versus the same period in 2021.

According to SAMA's monthly bulletin, these sales were made through 38.9 million transactions.

E-commerce sales include Mada cards payment and purchase transactions through shopping websites and online applications, but do not include transactions made through Visa, MasterCard