The UAE is home to several endangered species, including the sand dune cat and the Arabian Tahr. To that list may soon be added common cash – old-fashioned, grubby, difficult to track and unloved by the UAE authorities.
In fact, sidelining cash is official government policy. The UAE’s Vision 2021 project, launched in 2010 to guide the Emirates towards ambitious socio-economic goals by 2021, identified digital commerce and cashless transactions as key priorities.
As a result, even though 75 per cent of the country’s transactions still involve cash, the move towards a cash-free environment is gathering pace.
For example, Dubai motorists who pay driving fines in cash at a transport authority centre pay Dh100 ($27) more than those paying digitally.
And those Dubai motorists don’t really have an excuse for paying in cash. Aside from the usual ways of settling up, including online payments, there are even stand-alone kiosks where the penalties can be paid.
About 1,000 of the automated kiosks can be found in places such as airports and shopping malls, a physical sign of the innovation being encouraged in the payments industry throughout the UAE.
Developments in smartphone technology for payment processing have been adopted wholeheartedly in the region. As a result, the UAE now has the highest mobile spend per purchase globally, according to accountancy group KPMG.
According to a recent Gartner report, 88 per cent of UAE’s population are now internet users with smartphone penetration at 78 per cent. Yet just 15 per cent of the businesses in the UAE have an online presence and as much as 90 per cent of online purchases are being shipped from overseas. These statistics clearly show the opportunities that lie ahead for online commerce to grow, with a potentially seismic shift from traditional bricks and mortar retail to e-commerce.
Guillaume Pousaz is chief executive of Checkout.com, an online payment solutions provider which is taking advantages of technological advances to make accepting money in any form easier and quicker for merchants.
He says: “We’ve seen smartphones change commerce drastically on a global scale, and the UAE is no exception. This transformation has completely altered the way products and services in this region are purchased.”
He goes on to comment: “Want to order takeout, buy new jeans or book a romantic spa day for two? Mobile is the platform of choice.
“The UAE is rapidly adopting new technology. We enabled merchants to offer Apple Pay as soon as it became available in the region, in October 2017, two years after its initial US launch. “Apple Pay in the UAE is a game-changer for mobile-centric shoppers in the region – an area that is in the top five globally for purchases made via mobile devices.
There is still work to be done, but Checkout.com reports that the pace of change is quickening. The company, founded in 2012, expanded into the UAE, where Switzerland-born Mr Pousaz is based, in 2013 with an office in Dubai.
It now has eight offices in the US, Asia and Africa, with customers including Simba, Yoyo, EasyGroup, Deliveroo, TransferWise and Virgin Active. The group plans to quadruple the size of its operations over the next few years.
It says that the UAE’s payments industry is innovating rapidly, not because traditional banks are pushing change, but because consumers are embracing it.
Mr Pousaz says: “Along with this change, there are naturally new business requirements and customer pain-points that need to be addressed. “E-commerce in the UAE is already huge and is still growing, but there remain many friction points that make it difficult for foreign companies to process online payments. He added: “As a fast-growing market in the Middle East, online retail will be fuelled by the availability of ever more convenient and diverse online payment methods. “Accordingly, consumer expectations are shifting quickly. Keeping on top of these payment innovations and fulfilling these consumer demands are key for merchants in the area.”
As the UAE develops, innovation in payments will be vital to keep pace with international rivals, streamline efficiency at home and ease consumers’ lives.
As Mr Pousaz points out, as consumers and businesses become comfortable with new ways of exchanging money, they begin to expect nothing less.
