Transactions worth KD 18 billion made via KNet during the first decade of ’21 – ARAB TIMES
The restaurant sector leads the way among the most active consumers
KUWAIT CITY, November 30: Dalal Al-Yaqout, COO of The Shared Electronic Banking Company (KNet), revealed that citizens and residents of Kuwait spent around KD 18 billion through KNet outlets, around KD 9.5 billion at the point of sale, and around KD 8.5 billion through electronic payments and cash withdrawals at ATMs in the first ten months of 2021, reports the daily Al -Anba. In an exclusive interview, Al-Yaqout explained that the total payment transactions recorded by KNet in the first ten months of this year amounted to around 420 million, of which 282 million were payment transactions through point-of-sale devices. sales and approximately 138 million transactions via electronic payments. and cash withdrawals at ATMs. There has been a growth of more than 50 percent for all of the company’s operations in terms of the number and value of transactions from the start of this year until the end of last October, compared to the same period in 2020.
More than 940,000 transactions are carried out daily in points of sale at an average rate of 28.2 million transactions per month. Their value exceeds on average one billion dinars per month. During peak hours, more than 89,000 transactions are carried out per hour through point-of-sale devices within Kuwait. The value of payment transactions registered with KNet during the month of September amounted to approximately one billion dinars. This is an all-time high in the value of monthly point-of-sale transactions in the Kuwaiti market. The most active consumer sectors through point-of-sale payments in Kuwait in September were led by the restaurant industry, accounting for 20 percent of total transactions, followed by 18 percent in supermarkets and co-ops, nine percent from the fast food industry, and four percent from gas stations.
Tendency
Al-Yaqout pointed out that consumers in Kuwait have tended to use electronic means to make payments over the Internet or through point-of-sale devices, in exchange for reduced reliance on cash, since the onset of COVID. -. 19 pandemic, which led to a significant boom in point-of-sale transactions, especially during the month of September. She revealed that the demand for cash processing during the COVID-19 crisis has declined dramatically, indicating a shift in consumer behavior across the country in favor of electronic payments for all of their daily transactions.
Al-Yaqout claimed that KNet has highly trained specialists to deal with any problem or problem in the company’s network. She said point-of-sale devices in the Kuwaiti market are currently operating on a closed network that cannot be penetrated, explaining that a normal SIM card is placed inside the device and is not connected. to the Internet, so the network of these devices cannot be hacked. Al-Yaqout asserted that the company’s point-of-sale devices have a high degree of security and protection to protect customer data, adding that the company has international quality certificates and owns the hardware and software. necessary to protect transactions from any infiltration that may occur. . She explained that the company’s point-of-sale terminals have diversified from the start of its work in 1995 until today.
Currently
The company currently offers its customers more than ten types of point-of-sale devices, in addition to many services related to these devices such as the connection and maintenance of the devices, and the supply of all their accessories, which is done through a specialized department in the company for these services. The number of POS devices currently in the Kuwait market is around 82,000 at the end of October 2021, with a growth rate of around seven percent, compared to the end of October 2020, when the number of The point-of-sale devices in Kuwait was around 76,500. Over 93% of the point-of-sale terminals currently offered in the Kuwaiti market contain GPRS technology for communications.
About 92% of point-of-sale terminals support NFC technology or contactless payment. It should be mentioned that the Shared Electronic Banking Services Company (KNet) was established in 1992 with the participation of the local banks that existed at the time in order to link all the systems of the local banks in Kuwait and provide a range of banking services. services via an advanced network. The company prides itself on always maintaining the highest international standards of safety and efficiency.
It started providing its services in 1994, including automated interface between local banks, point of sale services, automated teller machines (ATM), electronic payment gateway via the Internet, GCC network, printing checkbooks and other specialized services in the field of electronic payment. system. In conclusion, Al-Yaqout said that the company receives about 16,000 requests for the provision and delivery of billing documents for point-of-sale devices monthly, and on average about 4,000 device maintenance requests from retailers. traders on a monthly basis. She pointed out that the company has a huge team of qualified employees to meet these demands.