Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain – 5th February 2020 – Data published by the Central Bank of Bahrain showed a steady growth in the number and value of POS operations during 2019. The number of POS transactions through credit and debit cards increased from 64,473,725 transactions in 2018 to 73,679,645 transactions in 2019, i.e. 9,205,920 transactions or 14.3 %. It is worth noting that the percentage of transactions from cards issued in Bahrain constituted 79.3% of the total number of those transactions. Within the top five sectors in which POS transactions accounted for 54.8% of all sectors, the restaurant sector recorded the highest number compared to the remaining sectors as it recorded 7,252,555 transactions, followed by the supermarket market sector 5,321,483, department stores 4,575,939 transactions, and clothing and footwear 2,779,167 transactions and government services 1,872,024 transactions, respectively.
The data showed that the value of POS transactions through credit and debit cards increased from BD 1,977,214,256 in 2018 to BD2,434,395,681 in 2019, i.e. at a value of BD 457,181,425, or 23.1%, of which the transactions of cards issued in Bahrain accounted for 77.1% of them. Within the top five sectors, which constituted 50.4% in terms of transaction amounts, the government services sector recorded the highest sector in terms of transaction value at BD321,131,958 during 2019, followed by the department stores at BD92,158,609, hotels, motels and resorts at BD86,220,243, clothing and footwear at BD80,820,803 and restaurants at BD61,331,742.
The number of POS terminals increased from 35,010 at the end of 2018 to 40,262 at the end of 2019, an increase of 15.0%.
As for the Electronic Funds Transfer System (EFTS) which includes Fawri, Fawri+ and Fawateer, an increase has been recorded compared to the previous year. The total amounts transferred through Fawri increased from BD11.2 billion in 2018 to BD12.7 billion in 2019, an increase of 13.4%. The total amounts transferred through Fawri+ increased from BD174.7 million in 2018 to BD542.9 million in 2019, an increase of 210.8%. The total amounts transferred through Fawateer also increased from BD133.1 million in 2018 to BD291.4 million in 2019, an increase of 118.9%.
The number of digital wallet transactions has increased by 566.7% from 1.2 million in 2018 to 8.0 million in 2019. The amounts transferred through digital wallets have increased from BD 28.9 million to BD 409.4 million, i.e. an increase of 1,316.6% during the same period.