Digital wallets, including PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay, have grown in popularity in recent years and can be an important payment feature for global small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to provide to their consumers.
Read the report: 2022 Global Digital Shopping Index - SMB Edition
According to a recent cross-country study of close to 800 merchants in Australia, Brazil, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the United Kingdom (U.K.) and the United States (U.S.), the share of SMB consumers using digital wallets to pay online was highest in the UAE (30.3%), ahead of U.S. eCommerce shoppers (18.2%).
Read more: UAE-Based SMBs Generate 46% of Sales on Digital Platforms, Lowest in 6-Country Study
The SMB-focused PYMNTS study, published in collaboration with Cybersource, also revealed that SMB customers in that country are more than twice as likely as customers of larger businesses to use these digital wallets.
Digital Wallet Popularity: UAE
Source: PYMNTS and Cybersource, The 2022 Global Digital Shopping Index
In terms of future investments in digital wallet capabilities, however, only 8% of UAE merchants consider digital wallets to be the most important area of innovation in the next three years, lagging behind Australia, which had the highest number of merchants (12.8%) considering this move.
See also: UAE SMBs Rethink Investment To Create Seamless Cross-Channel Shopping Experience
But that consideration will have to be increased on the consumer side, where investments in cross-border digital wallets are crucial to drive financial inclusion in emerging markets.
Related: Hubpay CEO Says Digital X-Border Wallet Can Help Bring MENA’s Unbanked Into Financial Fold
In a March interview with PYMNTS, Kevin Kilty, the CEO of UAE-based FinTech firm Hubpay, said that cross-border money transfers can be extremely expensive for low-income earners in emerging Middle East and North Africa (MENA) markets, a challenge that cross-border digital wallets offering no-cost remittances can help solve.
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