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Kuwait’s Payment Revolution: From Cash to Tap-to-Pay in 15 Years

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2 days ago

May 28, 2025

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Walk into any café in Kuwait City today, and you are more likely to hear the beep of a phone than the rustle of dinars.

According to the Central Bank of Kuwait’s Payment Cards Statistics (2010-2024), card spending has increased from KD 569 million in 2010 to KD 4.64 billion in 2024, representing a 716 per cent rise, one of the fastest payment transformations in the Gulf.

The digital awakening

CBK data points to four forces converging at just the right moment:

Youth demographics drive change With more than 70 percent of Kuwaitis under forty, and smartphone penetration above 90 percent, finance has shifted from branch counters to mobile apps.

A rewards culture takes hold Cashback, airline miles, and instant discounts have coaxed even cash-comfortable consumers to first use plastic, then digital wallets.

Travel and e-commerce boom Prolific travel and online shopping made card acceptance abroad and on global platforms frictionless; suddenly, the world felt smaller.

Smart regulation paves the way Open-API frameworks and robust tokenisation from the Central Bank delivered secure, seamless payments. Tap-to-pay became ubiquitous almost overnight.

A predictable rhythm

Seasonality is now almost clockwork:

Summer surge abroad (Q3): overseas card spend rises 54 per cent above the Q1-Q2 average as families decamp for Europe and the Far East.
Winter shopping frenzy (Q4): domestic card use climbs 19 per cent, fuelled by Black-Friday-style promotions and year-end gifting

Retailers are increasingly aligning their inventory and marketing calendars with these rhythm

The great digital crossover

‘One in every three dinars is now spent online.’

Traditional point-of-sale spending still leads, at KD 1.78 billion in 2024; yet, the real revolution is online, as payment gateways handled KD 1.55 billion, accounting for 34 per cent of all card spending.

Local gateways posted a 75 per cent compound annual growth rate between 2020 and 2024.
Cross-border gateways grew at a rate of 44 per cent per year.
ATM withdrawals, at KD 590 million in 2024, now account for roughly one-eighth of total card activity.

What does this mean for Kuwait

Businesses should time campaigns to coincide with Q4’s local surge while capturing Q3’s traveler wallet. Banks must pivot from card issuance to lifestyle ecosystems, including embedded finance, app-based instalments, and seamless cross-border services. Government agencies gain anonymised transaction data that supports everything from inflation tracking to urban planning, while furthering financial inclusion.

Looking ahead

After 2020, quarterly card spend surpassed KD 1 billion and has maintained that level. Cash will not disappear, yet its share continues to slip.

Winners will treat payments not as a cost centre but as a customer-experience advantage, whether through QR-code payments at a corner grocery or friction-free instalments at a national retailer.

Kuwait’s payment revolution illustrates how rapidly consumer behavior can evolve when technology, demographics, and regulation align. The challenge now is for the broader economy to keep pace.

Ali Bahbahani is the founder of Ali Bahbahani & Partners, a Kuwait-based consultancy specialising in customer experience and digital transformation across the GCC. Further insights at www.alibahbahani.com.

Source: Central Bank of Kuwait, Payment Cards Statistics, 2010-2024

By Ali Bahbahani, Founder, Ali Bahbahani & Partners

Related Topics:cash Kuwaits payment Revolution TaptoPay years

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Business

Kuwait Wins Big at Sharjah Finance Awards

Published

19 hours ago

May 29, 2025

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KUWAIT CITY, May 29: The Ministry of Finance said it won the third edition of the Sharjah Award for Public Finance (2024-2025) in recognition of its outstanding role in providing financial services. Representatives of 17 countries vied for the award, the Ministry noted in a press release on Wednesday. Minister of Finance Noura Al- Fassam stated that winning this award reflects the ministry’s efforts in improving the efficiency of financial performance and enhancing the quality of services provided. The ministry confirmed that it is continuing to develop financial services under directives from the Council of Ministers towards digitizing services. The statement added that Al-Fassam received the award on behalf of the ministry, which participated in the digital payment project for government services that enables government entities to purchase online, pay government fees, and meet various needs to fulfill their financial obligations. (KUNA)

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Kuwait taps Google for smart finance overhaul

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20 hours ago

May 29, 2025

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KUWAIT CITY, May 29: Kuwait’s Finance Minister Noura Al-Fassam held talks on Wednesday with Google Cloud’s Vice President of Customer Engineering for the Middle East, Africa and Europe Chris Lindsay, focusing on efforts to push forward a national digital drive. The digital transformation, including a transition into a cloud-based financial system that guarantees more “flexibility and transparency,” represents the focal point of economic reforms in Kuwait, according to a finance ministry statement.
Kuwait’s finance ministry will be among the first state bodies to make the transition into a digital system, which is a testament to its “commitment” to employ cutting-edge technology, such as Artificial Intelligence tools, in a bid to improve the quality of its services, the statement underlined. The talks come as part of the “strategic partnership” agreement between Kuwait and the US tech giant, which aims to develop advanced digital infrastructure across all state bodies, added the statement. It went on to espouse the merits of a full-fledged digital transformation, citing streamlined processes, data-driven decision-making and greater efficiency as chief among those benefits.(KUNA)

Business

Kuwait’s Ministry of Finance wins Sharjah Award for Public Finance

Published

1 day ago

May 29, 2025

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Kuwait’s Ministry of Finance wins Sharjah Award for Public Finance

Minister of Finance, Eng. Noura Al-Fassam, and Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance, Aseel Al-Munifi

KUWAIT CITY, May 29: Kuwait’s Ministry of Finance has been awarded the Sharjah Award for Public Finance 2024–2025 in the institutional category, recognizing it as a distinguished entity in delivering financial services. The award was granted among participants from 17 countries.

Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Economic Affairs and Investment, Noura Al-Fassam, stated in a press release on Wednesday that this recognition adds to the Ministry’s growing record in modernizing financial services. She emphasized that it reflects the ongoing collaboration across ministry departments to improve financial performance and enhance service quality.

Al-Fassam affirmed the Ministry’s commitment to further developing its financial services, in alignment with Cabinet directives aimed at digitizing services and achieving full digital transformation.

According to the statement, Undersecretary Aseel Al-Munifi accepted the award on behalf of the Ministry. The Ministry’s submission included its digital payment platform for government services—which supports local and credit card payments, the Stamp application, electronic wallets, Gulf cards, and Apple Pay— as well as a prepaid credit card project enabling government agencies to carry out online purchases, pay government fees, and manage financial obligations efficiently.

The Ministry noted that the award affirms its leading role in advancing financial legislation, modernizing government payment systems, and adapting to rapid changes in revenue collection and procurement. These developments are part of broader efforts to streamline documentation processes through digital platforms.

Held biennially, the Sharjah Award for Public Finance is organized under the patronage of Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah, and Chairman of the Executive Council. The award ceremony was presided over by Sheikh Mohammed bin Saud Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Sharjah Central Finance Department, and attended by ministers, undersecretaries, department heads, and representatives from the financial sector across the UAE and other Arab countries.