The central bank of Qatar has released the initial digital payment-related license. A tweet was shared on Tuesday in which the monetary agency of the country declared to have given the respective license to a couple of firms – taking into account Ooredoo Money and Vodafone Qatar – which offer services of electronic payments.
Qatar Offers Initial License targeting the provision of digital payments
According to the bank, the first move is to incorporate the entirety of the firms offering digital facilities of digital payments under the Qatar Central Bank’s supervision to play a significant role in the advancement of the space of financial technology as well as increase financial inclusion.
It is noteworthy that in the previous week the central bank declared that the banks within the jurisdiction are prepared to formally introduce Google Pay (a mobile-based payment service) following the required trials. Particularly, the entirety of the worldwide services related to digital wallets for cards such as Samsung Pay and Apply Pay is presently adopted within Qatar. The FIFA World Cup of this year is also to occur in Qatar.
In this respect, the country is getting ready to have massive tourism growth and thus preparing to welcome above 1M fans of soccer. As the Qatar Central Bank pointed out, the respective move will provide considerable assistance in facilitating the visitors, particularly during the upcoming World Cup as well as to accomplish their digital payments. The region of the Middle East has steadily been dealing with entities from diverse places across the world in the digital sector thereof.
Tranglo, the partner of Ripple (XRP), has recently declared to have an expansion within the respective jurisdiction. In the past week, the cross-border hub for payment processing began an exclusive entrance within the United Arab Emirates. In this way, the platform will direct its attention toward the network’s development as well as infrastructural investment to incorporate additional channels which would have great growth potential.
The Country Witnesses High Remittance Inflows and Outflows in 2020
Markedly, the Arab Gulf area has turned into a prominent place for digital payments across borders after the pandemic. It was reported formerly that the UAE is considered to be among the well-known remittance receivers and senders across the globe. In 2020, the figures of $6.78B and $42.7B were recorded by the country in remittance inflows and outflows respectively. Looking back, the exclusive steps will additionally promote the advancement in the sphere of digital payments in the region.
A fintech venture named ‘CWallet Services’ has been adopted by the Sandbox program of Qatar Central Bank to enable it to trial the capability thereof to release mobile-based wallets for merchants and consumers during a trial period of up to 6 months. With Ooredoo Money Wallet, customers are allowed to organize their financial transfers, send funds, as well as make payments rapidly at any place via their mobile phone.
