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29 March 2024

Top 5 things we swiped cards for in Ramadan

Published
By Staff

Electronic payments firm Visa has revealed that during the 2014 holy month, cardholders spent Dh14.62 billion ($3.98 billion) across all of its products – credit, debit and prepaid.

This represents, a 16 per cent increase in spend on Visa cards over the same period in 2013, the firm said in a media statement today that announced the findings as part of the Visa Middle East and North Africa (Mena) Ramadan and Eid spend report for 2014.

The report analysed domestic and international (known as cross-border) data spend during the holiday period across 32 merchant sectors including fashion and electronics retail, travel and hospitality, telecommunications, hospitals and financial institutions, on all Visa products issued by banks in the region including  debit prepaid and credit payment cards.

The data has revealed that shoppers spent big at the supermarket in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait, with a 9 per cent increase over last year.

Other key categories included jewellery stores, which saw an increase of 21 per cent and family clothing, a category that grew 13 per cent in 2014.

Given the push by Middle Eastern governments to electronify commerce, leading card acceptance institutions like government services and financial institutions registered a growth of 10 and 6 per cent, respectively, in year-on-year transactions.

In a nutshell, supermarkets, financial institutions, jewellery, clothing stores and government services emerged as the top 5 categories for Visa spends during holiday period 2014.

The only category to sit in the top 10 but decrease, but maintain a high growth volume, were building supply stores – with spend volumes decreasing 12 per cent -  suggesting DIY projects were not a priority this Ramadan.

Ihab Ayoub, General Manager-Mena at Visa, says: “Visa’s Ramadan and Eid Spend Report for 2014 has shown that consumers in our region are increasingly shifting towards an electronic payment culture. They have gained greater insight into our products and the benefits that Visa and its clients offer them. This trend is also supported by the adoption of e-payments by many governments in the region.  We saw a growth in spend in key every day categories meaning both residents and visitors see the value in using their Visa card at the point of purchase.

“Additionally, we have seen in the data a surge in the number of premium credit card holders with the upper affluent segment being one of the fastest growing sections of society in the region. Findings from the Visa Ramadan and Eid Spend Report indicate levels of financial literacy improving, with people becoming more conscious of responsible credit card spending.”