Global real-time payments reached all-time highs with 195B transactions in 2022, a 63.2% YoY increase, while UAE recorded 37.2M transactions. How can UAE boost adoption to lead real-time payments in the region?
With 195.0 billion transactions conducted globally in 2022, new use cases for consumers and companies propelled real-time payment volumes to all-time highs. ACI Worldwide, a real-time payments software company, also reported an increase of 63.2% for the industry year over year. The UAE, one of the top six nations in the Middle East, recorded 37.2 million real-time transactions in 2022. How, though, can the UAE promote adoption and seize the lead in real-time payments?
Consumers in the UAE carried out 37.2 million real-time transactions in 2022, with the number of transactions rising to as many as 146 million by 2027, according to ACI Worldwide. These numbers show a 31.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) during the last five years. In collaboration with the data and analytics firm GlobalData, the real-time payments software supplier released its most recent research, titled “2023 Prime Time for Real-Time.”
In 2022, only 1.1% of all paperless transactions involved real-time payments. By 2027, according to ACI, this will represent 12% of all electronic payments. ACI Worldwide has been constructing the domestic real-time payments system in close collaboration with market participants since last year.
A national Instant Payment Platform (IPP) is now anticipated to launch later this year in phases. IPP would allow for real-time, round-the-clock processing of payments and fund transfers within the UAE. The program, which calls for the participation of all financial institutions in the nation, could provide both overlay services like “Request to Pay” and core payments based on the new quick payment rails.
For the UAE, a domestic IPP will change the game
The possible effects of IPP on the real-time payments industry were explored by Santhosh Rao, senior vice president of MEASA at ACI Worldwide:
The establishment of a domestic IPP will fundamentally alter the UAE’s ability to realize its goal of developing a contemporary, digital economy because it will hasten the adoption of real_time payments.
“Real-time payments have a number of advantages; they boost client happiness and loyalty, reduce friction in payment transactions, and help ensure the competitiveness of banks and financial service providers. Real-time payments present a fantastic opportunity for the UAE to promote financial inclusion and economic prosperity.
“ACI has supported governments and banks as they implement real-time payments all across the world. We are honored to be a major Middle Eastern provider, assisting nations in the area to profit from real-time payments.
Middle East has a lot of promise
The Middle East is the world’s fastest-growing real_time payments sector as governments and authorities there set new requirements for adoption. According to ACI Worldwide’s forecasts, real-time transactions will increase in the Middle East from $675 million in 2022 to $2.6 billion in 2027, representing a CAGR of 30.6%.
A number of nations, including the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman, have plans to roll out local real-time systems soon, prioritizing cutting-edge capabilities and overlay services.
Bahrain is expected to have the highest consumer adoption of real_time payments by 2027, with each individual doing 83.3 transactions each month. As assessed by transactions per person per month, Bahrain is the only Middle Eastern nation to make the Top 10 list for consumer adoption of real-time payments.
One of the company’s top regional markets is the Middle East, where three nations are currently receiving assistance from ACI Worldwide as they develop their own domestic real-time payment infrastructures. This builds on ACI’s long record of achievement in Asia, where it runs the infrastructures for Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand as well as several real-time payment systems in the APAC region, including those in Singapore, the Philippines, and Australia.
