Online payments surge 25 per cent
Benefit, the operator of Bahrain’s national electronic fund transfer system (EFTS), has reported a massive increase in online transactions last year.
Data released yesterday by the company which was established as the national ATM and point of sale switch in 1997 shows that total payments through the EFTS (Fawri, Fawri+ and Fawateer) – both online and via BenefitPay – surged by 25 per cent in total value from BD20.3 billion in 2021 to BD25.4bn in 2022.
A total of nearly 268 million payments were made through EFTS in 2022.
Fawri, Fawri+ and Fawateer transactions through BenefitPay jumped 70.8pc in volume during 2022 to 252.5m.
Fawri+ is an almost real-time fund transfer service which allows individuals or entities to transfer funds of up to BD1,000 per day in less than 30 seconds; whereas Fawri is a deferred settlement fund transfer service which allows individuals or entities to transfer any amount within a few hours of the business day, and Fawateer provides real-time bill payments.
The volume of payments made in 2022 using Fawri+ was 245m, 74pc higher than 2021, while the value is BD6.2bn, a 39pc increase from 2021.
It is worth noting that in January 2022 alone, there was a 107pc increase in Fawri+ transactions over the BenefitPay application from the previous year.
Furthermore, a total of more than 11m Fawri transactions were made in 2022 showing an increase of 14pc with their total value exceeding BD18bn for the year 2022, compared to BD15bn in 2021, an increase of 20pc.
A total of almost 12m Fawateer transactions were conducted in 2022, a growth increase of 31pc. Their total value exceeded BD928.7m for 2022 compared to
BD641.7m for the year 2021, an increase of 45pc.
The national electronic Know-Your-Customer (eKYC) platform totalled up to more than 424,000 eKYC transactions in 2022 in comparison to over 204,000 transactions in 2021, showing a substantial increase of 107.6pc.
The Bahrain Credit Reference Bureau, operated by Benefit, has total inquiries exceeding 272,000 credit reports during 2022 compared to over 264,000 in 2021, demonstrating a 3pc increase.
Source: https://www.gdnonline.com/Details/1184408
