GCC ready to tap into alternative payment methods – study

The most preferred alternative payment methods are government identity cards (12%), banking apps (17%), and mobile wallets (9%), according to a study commissioned by Cards & Payments Middle East, gulfnews.com reports.

More than 16% of respondents who use cash as their current preferred payment method would adopt alternative options, should they be available in their respective countries.

According to the study, 29% of Emiratis use Emirates ID cards to make payments and 18% of Omani are interested in the same method of payment. Survey respondents also expressed interest in Samsung Pay (5%). The survey took place in April 2016, with 2.700 participants from across the GCC including the UAE, KSA, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman.