Digital payments and virtual credit cards continue to grow across the MENA region

Digital payments and virtual credit cards continue to grow across the MENA region

Dubai: The growing use of virtual Visa corporate credit cards across the MENA region has been accelerating as companies adapt to the rising digital economy. Based on newly released data by Tribal Credit, a company that provides comprehensive digital financial solutions for companies at all stages of development, new virtual cards have increased by 126% between Q3 2021 and Q3 2022.

According to Tribal, a 360° financial digital solution for companies at different stages of growth, the use of virtual corporate credit cards increased by 91% in Egypt between Q2 and Q3 2022, 117.5% in Saudi Arabia, and 42.9% in the UAE.

Businesses in the Middle East are relying increasingly heavily on digital payments. According to the consultancy McKinsey, digital payments have been steadily increasing in MENA since 2014, and use was accelerated by the pandemic, with a survey suggesting that cumulative growth in digital transactions has exceeded 50% since 2020.

For example, according to McKinsey, Saudi Arabia saw a 70% growth in card payments between February 2019 and 2020, while consumer digital payments grew by more than 9% annually in UAE between 2014 and 2019.

Despite the rapid shift to digital payments, traditional banks have been slow to adopt them. However, payment fintech,