ALBAWABA - Support by Bahrain's Central Bank and the country's innovative digital infrastructure have contributed to an ideal environment for businesses and for consumers to take advantage of real-time payments.
In 2015, Bahrain's Central Bank launched Fawri+, a real-time payments system that sets the standard for instant payments in the region, according to ACI Worldwide Report.
Today, nearly 60 Percent of electronic payments in the country are processed in real time, and this is forecast to rise to 78.6 percent by 2027, the report said.
It explained that real-time payments are strongly embedded in the everyday lives of consumers and businesses in Bahrain.
The report said it found that Saudi Arabia is currently the biggest real-time payments market in the Middle East, closely followed by Bahrain.
As governments and regulators in the region are setting new mandates for adoption, countries including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman are expected to launch domestic real-time schemes soon, with innovative features and new services for consumers and businesses high on the agenda.
The Middle East is the fastest-growing real-time payments market globally, with transactions expected to grow from $675 million in 2022 to $2.6 billion by 2027, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.6 percent.