How Saudi is embracing digital payment trends
Dr Saeeda Jaffar, Senior Vice President & Group Country Manager – GCC, Visa, talks about the digital payment opportunity in Saudi Arabia
How do you see digital payments evolving in Saudi Arabia?
In terms of digital payments, I think Saudi is exemplary in what they have done, and it has been accomplished in a few years. If you look at some of the 50 countries that we have surveyed, it’s just one in three face-to-face transactions that are contactless globally. In Saudi, nine out of ten face-to-face transactions are contactless. It’s remarkable because, in 2017, the penetration of contactless payments in the country was just four percent. Today it is 94 percent. 
Is this because of the pandemic?
I think there were many reasons. Of course, the pandemic accelerated things, but the fundamental causes were different. First and foremost is the population. It is a very young and technologically savvy population. The second thing is regulations that exist are very conducive to digital payments. It is part of Saudi Vision 2030, and there has been a concerted push and focus on making payments digital. Moreover, the infrastructure that exists in the country, in general, is top-notch, which may not be the case in other places.
How about digital issuance?
Absolutely, digital issuance is a big thing in Saudi. As you know, stc pay was launched recently, and they have a strategic partnership with Visa to provide digital payment solutions. Within a few months of the launch, they have enabled millions of customers to use their digital wallets for contactless transactions.
Is Saudi now transitioning to a cashless future?
Cashless means different things to different people. I think Saudi is very rapidly transitioning toward a very digital future. The target for the country was to reach 55 percent cashless payments by 2022, and we are already at 57 percent digital payments. The plan is to get to 70 percent by 2030. That seems achievable with the way things are going, and I think we will get there even earlier.
Many banks are now using blockchain for cross-border remittances. Is this trend reflected in Saudi as well?
In general, cross-border payment is an area with a lot of focus and a lot of innovation. And the reason is that today the cross-border payment experience is not the smoothest. There’s a lot of friction; it can take anywhere from minutes to days for cross-border transfers. And as a result of that, there’s a lot of attention that’s been focused on this area. Blockchain is a solution. There are also many other solutions. In fact, with our Visa Everywhere initiative, we will look at crypto and proprietary platforms that focus on cross-border remittance to come up with innovations in space.
