PAYFORT, the Arab world’s online payment gateway and payment solutions provider is today celebrating its first year of operation with over 3 billion UAE dirhams (around $817 million) worth of transactions processed.
The firm says it has signed up over 110 regional merchants such as TECOM Investments (a member of Dubai Holding), Air Arabia, Souq.com, Landmark, and Ferrari World as their e-payment provider. It has also established partnerships top banks such as the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Mashreq, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, SAAB, and the National Bank of Egypt.
In a statement, Omar Soudodi, Managing Director of PAYFORT said, “We at PAYFORT wanted to conclude our successful first year of operation by releasing this in-depth report, which highlights the rapidly changing dynamics of the region’s e-commerce and e-payment industries.”
The UAE based firm has also opened branches Saudi Arabia and Egypt, most potent e-commerce markets and is releasing innovative products and services such as PAYatHOME and PAYatSTORE and its own in-app payment service, which allows mobile phone and handheld device using “customers” to seamlessly complete their transaction within the app without being redirected to another page, which enhances the experience and overall security.
PAYFORT has also released its report on the state of payments in the region, entitled Arab World Online Payment Report 2014 during the 2014 ArabNet Digital Summit, which begins today in Dubai.
The report also analyzes e-payment and e-commerce penetration throughout the region, and looks at the most visited e-commerce sites in the above markets. It finds that 15 percent of the region’s businesses have an online presence and notes that the e-commerce industry is expected to grow from $9 billion in sales in 2012 to $15 billion in 2015. The report concludes with a section on m-commerce and omni-commerce, the former of which is expected to increase from $0.9 billion in sales in 2012 to $3 billion in 2015, and the huge potential it has in the region.
According to the report, in the UAE, 60 percent of the 3.65 million e-commerce customers are located in Dubai, while another 27 percent are in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi collectively. In Egypt, 27 percent of e-commerce purchases are paid for with a credit card, while cash on delivery makes up the remainder.