Okaz/Saudi Gazette

RIYADH — The number of cash withdrawals carried out in 2020 across Saudi Arabia dropped by more than 318 million transactions (around 30 percent) while compared to the year 2019, according to Talat Hafiz, the secretary-general of the media and banking awareness committee of Saudi Banks.

Speaking to Okaz/Saudi Gazette, Hafiz said that the total number of point of sale (POS) operations in 2020 amounted to about 2.8 billion, an increase of 75 percent compared to the same period in the previous year. “The value of operations amounted to approximately SR349 billion, an increase of nearly 24.1 percent compared to the same period of 2019.”

Hafiz said that the POS devices operating in the Kingdom also witnessed a significant increase by the end of last year, with their number exceeding 700,000, registering a growth of approximately 70 percent since the beginning of the year.

“These statistics and indices confirm the trend and the increasing and steady demand for members of society and business sectors to use electronic payment technologies through POS devices,” he added.