MasterCard sees potential for growth in UAE electronic payments
15 March, 2013
category: Contactless
There is a strong potential for growth in electronic payment methods in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) region, as 10% of all transactions are paid for electronically compared to 15% globally.
MasterCard reports the UAE currently has 1,000 contactless terminals and Qatar has 500 terminals, compared to two years ago when there were none in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), adding that here are 400,000 contactless cards in the Middle East.
The company is focusing its efforts on bringing electronic payment methods in to daily transactions, working with banks and acquirers to bring credit card and contactless terminals into small groceries by the end of the year, said Michael Miebach, president for Middle East and Africa at MasterCard.
There is “rapid progress” in developing contactless payment methods in the GCC because of its concentrated cash spending and MasterCard is planning to bring 1,000 additional contactless terminals to the UAE by next year.
Globally, PayPass is present in 50 countries and accepted at nearly 700,000 merchant locations.
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