Nearly all UAE SMBs nowadays in a position to handle digital payments

Ninety-seven % of tiny and medium-sized businesses in the UAE, when compared to global average of 83 per cent, adopted new types of digital payment technology by the end of last year, according to a fresh report.

This trend is likely to continue in 2021 as consumers search for safer and convenient payment options as a result of Covid-19 pandemic, Visa’s Back again to Business report said.

More than four in five (86 %) of the UAE's SMBs expect buyers will continue to mostly use contactless payments actually after a vaccine becomes accessible.

“While there has been a sudden surge in e-commerce and digital repayments due to the impact of Covid-19, our report shows that these trends will continue steadily to prevail in 2021, even as the vaccines become more widely available found in the united states and the wider location,” Shahebaz Khan, Visa’s standard supervisor for the UAE, explained.

The report, which surveyed 250 small business owners at companies with 100 or fewer employees in Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Russia, Singapore, the UAE and the US in November, discovered that 44 % of UAE businesses had only begun offering contactless payments for the very first time, and the same amount were offering contactless payment options more often.

SMBs are similar when it comes to size and qualities to SMEs, but differ by job, with the past often counting on part-time workers or outsourced staff and the latter employing full-time workers.

UAE-founded companies were the second-most very likely globally to face customer concerns about fraud. Ninety four per cent encountered fears about the technology, in comparison to 96 per cent in Hong Kong and 70 % globally.

“We believe 2021 will place greater focus [on] reliability and fraud, and [the] trial of even more emerging digital commerce tools which can help SMBs in the UAE thrive,” Mr Khan explained.

Visa also surveyed a lot more than 1,500 adults found in the US, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Russia, Singapore and the UAE about buying habits.

Consumers found in the UAE will be the least likely to raise the period of time they spend shopping in person (37 per cent, in comparison to 53 % globally) after a good vaccine is accessible.

Individuals are also keen to experience alternatives to handling dollars, pens and keypads while shopping in-person. In the UAE, 74 % of consumers, in comparison to 47 per cent globally, said they'll not shop at a store that does not give you a contactless way to shell out.

Nearly 93 per cent of local customers nowadays expect digital options if they shop personally. Tapping a credit rating or debit card is the recommended payment option (57 %), followed by repayments through a mobile wallet (51 per cent) or mobile payment apps (44 per cent).

In a separate record on Wednesday, Mastercard said practically 20 to 30 per cent of the Covid-related surge in e-commerce spending is a permanent characteristic in the share of total retail spending in the Middle East and Africa region.

The company said 73 % of consumers in the region are shopping more online than they did prior to the pandemic.