In 2020, the overall number of financial cards in circulation continued to increase in Saudi Arabia, although at a slower pace than in 2019 as pre-paid cards saw a significant drop as expatriates left the country as Saudisation progressed and charge cards continued to decrease in popularity due to competition mainly from credit cards. Financial...
The emergence of COVID-19 in Portugal and the subsequent lockdown measures introduced by the government in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus resulted in economic decline and rising unemployment levels, particularly for those in tourism-related sectors and foodservice due to the closure of both borders and non-essential retailers. Financial...
The most obvious impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Vietnam’s financial card payments industry during 2020 was the significant slowdown seen in growth in transactions volume and value across all categories. Although transactions value continue to increase in debit cards, credit cards and pre-paid cards, growth rates were significantly slower...
The COVID-19 dynamic had a strong impact on all categories of financial cards and payments during 2020. In general, consumer spending was under pressure for much of the year as many households sought to avoid all unnecessary spending due to the hostile and uncertain economic environment that unfolded over the course of the year. This suppressed...
Overall consumer expenditure in Romania has been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak and consequent widespread decline in demand for services, tourism and foodservice throughout the country. Consumer payments were already shifting away from cash before the pandemic, in line with ongoing technological development and rising demand...
Numerous interesting trends emerged in Peru’s financial cards and payments industry as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020. The most important and influential of these trends was the substantial shift seen away from the use of cash and towards the use of financial cards in general. This trend needs to be assessed within the context...
Overall consumer expenditure in Austria has been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak and consequent widespread decline in demand for services, tourism and foodservice throughout the country. Consumer payments were already shifting away from cash before the pandemic, in line with ongoing technological development and rising demand...
Taiwan moved swiftly to contain COVID-19 and this appears to have paid dividends with far fewer cases and deaths recorded compared to comparable-sized markets. As such, the government has not felt compelled to introduce such strict restrictions as seen elsewhere, with this allowing consumers to spend more freely. Nonetheless, overall transactions...
Cash remains the most popular form of payment in Nigeria due to the large unbanked population, in addition to a fear of electronic fraud association with a high illiteracy rate, particularly amongst the lower-income members of society, coupled with poor infrastructure in some areas of the country including insufficient point of sale terminals...
The COVID-19 pandemic had a relatively limited use on the use of financial cards in Morocco during 2020. This mainly because cash remains the payment method used for the vast majority of transactions in the country. For this reason, the Moroccan population reacted to the announcement of the quarantine lockdown during late March by flocking...