RIYADH: The Saudi Central Bank revealed that the share of electronic payments accounted for 85 percent of the total number of payment transactions executed in the retail sector by individuals in 2025, compared to 79 percent recorded in 2024.
Building on this momentum, point-of-sale transactions in the Kingdom rose 13.4 percent in the week ending April 4 to reach SR14.7 billion ($3.9 billion), with the total number of transactions increasing 12.1 percent to 246.5 million.
Education spending surged 797.5 percent to SR296.5 million as students returned to classrooms after the Eid Al-Fitr break, while food and beverages spending grew 13.7 percent to SR2.45 billion. Among major cities, Riyadh led with a 19.6 percent increase, followed by Dammam at 27.3 percent.
This achievement coincided with significant growth in the Kingdom’s national payment systems during 2025, as the number of electronic payment transactions executed through them reached approximately 14.6 billion, compared to 12.6 billion in 2024.
This share of electronic payments reflects the Kingdom’s advanced global standing, supported by record figures through the national payment system “Mada” for card payments via point-of-sale and e-commerce, along with rising figures in transaction volumes processed through other national payment systems compared to the previous year. This shows the expanding adoption of electronic payment solutions and the growing reliance on them in various daily transactions.
The Kingdom witnessed notable progress and rapid growth in the adoption of electronic payment methods, which came as a result of numerous strategic efforts and initiatives launched by the Saudi Central Bank in cooperation with the financial sector to support the growth of the payments sector and promote the use of diverse electronic payment options in the Kingdom. These contribute to achieving the targets of Saudi Vision 2030 by reducing reliance on cash and enhancing the growth of payment digitization.
SAMA continuously sought to provide diverse payment options to expand the adoption of various electronic payment methods by continuing to develop the infrastructure of national payment systems, developing digital payment solutions, and improving their quality to facilitate financial transactions, enhance their efficiency, reduce their costs, and support economic activities in the Kingdom.
