Consumers and shoppers across the MENA region spent $9.3bn on Visa debit cards during Ramadan and Eid 2015, according to new data from the payment processing network.
The report revealed the top five categories for cardholder spends across the MENA region during the Holy Month in 2015, were: fashion retail, ATM cash, supermarkets, luxury goods retail and general department store purchases
Mainly, the findings revealed that shoppers from the UAE, KSA, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman drove sales across the MENA region during the Holy month. Other merchant categories included government services, construction services, airlines, accommodation and auto services.
Ihab Ayoub, General Manager MENA at Visa says: “Luxury and fashion retail have traditionally been the mainstay of merchant spends during the Holy Month and the findings from the report clearly reinforce this trend. Further, the shift to electronic payments continues to drive growth, supported by the adoption of e-payments by many governments in the region.
“As financial literacy across the region improves, residents and visitors are becoming more conscious of responsible credit card spending, while enjoying the safety and security of transacting with Visa. In the UAE alone, we recorded spends of US$ 2.9 billion over a single month with Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and the USA emerging as the top source markets in 2015.”
The figures demonstrate the resilience of the luxury good sector in the face of economic challenges such as low oil prices and weakening currencies like the Russian Rouble and the Chinese Yuan.
