Apple Pay to increase UAE’s e-payments market even as cash remains king

The UAE launch of mobile wallet Apple Pay has been welcomed as a much-needed next step to jump-start the Arabian Gulf’s e-payments market, even as experts warn the service could deal with barriers in a society where money remains king

Banking professionals said the success of Apple Pay depends on impressive client service and the roll-out of reward plans and other incentives

“Utilizing cash is not so troublesome that consumers will immediately search for a direct replacement,” said Charles Habak, vice president and head of banking and fintech at consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton.

“Any brand-new alternative, for that reason, has to bring extra value-adds– such as benefit points, loyalty programs and a killer user experience.Apple Pay is not going to revolutionise the payments industry, however it will supply a nice, complementary option for clients.”The Middle East is among the world’s

most cash favouring economy due to absence of trust in the security of online transactions amongst clients.”Money still holds a big sway in the area, over 80 percent of all deals, especially with personal payments or payments with smaller merchants,”stated Suvo Sarkar, senior executive vice president at That is changing. Online payment entrance Payfort this month reported that in the Middle East and North Africa there was a general 22 percent boost in online deals last year, led by growth in Saudi Arabia( 27 per cent), Egypt(22 per cent) and the UAE(21percent ). Launching Apple Pay in the UAE Tuesday, the US-based technology firm claimed the new digital platform”changes mobile payments with an easy, safe and private method to pay “. Six UAE banks– Emirates NBD, Mashreq,

RAKBank, Emirates Islamic, HSBC and Standard Chartered– have actually currently dedicated to the service, supported by Visa and MasterCard. Telecoms supplier du is also on board in addition to retailers consisting of Sharaf DG, House Centre and Etihad

Airways.Rajeev Patel, director of transaction services at Deloitte, said the launch of Apple Pay was “considerably required in an area that has been craving product development in banking”. InApril, Samsung launched its own digital wallet, Samsung Pay, in the UAE, while banks including Emirates NBD and Mashreq have actually implemented their own contactless and e-payments services.

However there remains plenty of “white area “, stated Mr Patel.Apple’s launch is also most likely to enhance the UAE’s profile as an emerging fintech center.”We are seeing more global blue chips like Apple and Samsung partnering with UAE banks, which must encourage more technology-related investment here, “he said.Pankaj Kundra, head of payments at Mashreq, stated that with high per capita income, high mobile phone penetration rates and a digital-ready payments facilities, the UAE was a”good place to release He added:”Displacing a cash-based economy will always be a challenge. Apple, with its stakeholders, will need to devise fringe benefits to motivate take-up.”Removing money from the economy is viewed as an essential objective for emerging markets as the cash-carrying procedure is costly and time-consuming,

and digital payments can be safer and more transparent.A representative for Emirates Digital Wallet, which recently released a mobile payments service for the estimated half a million UAE employees whose earnings are too low to have

a bank account, said Apple Pay’s impact would be limited since”it only caters to a minority of the marketplace “.