The Nilson Report, a specialized international publication on electronic payments, published its 1266th issue featuring a report on the performance of financial companies based on transaction volume in 2023.
The report assessed the status of the Iranian payment network and companies in the Middle East, highlighting the impact of limited access to popular international payment services like Visa and MasterCard for Iranian financial institutions.
According to The Nilson Report, Iranian domestic cards have the highest transaction volume among domestic cards in the Middle East and Africa. Iran has maintained its position as the largest bank card market in the entire region for several consecutive years.
Performance Review of 36 Financial Institutions in the Middle East and Africa
In its latest issue, the “Nilson Report” reviewed and evaluated the performance of 36 financial institutions based on the volume of bank card transactions in 2023. Iran was highlighted as the most significant country in the Middle East and Africa in terms of transaction volume, despite having no access to the two popular international payment services, Visa and Mastercard, which are the main focus of the report.
The Nilson Report is a reputable source for tracking and monitoring the global payment industry. It provides a monthly evaluation of over two thousand financial institutions and businesses related to the payment and credit card industry worldwide.
The report included a review of financial companies based on transaction volume in 2023 and listed the top commercial companies in the global and Middle Eastern payment sector. The total transactions of these companies in the Middle East amounted to 341.81 billion, reflecting a 15% increase from the previous year.
According to the Nilson Report, Iran Leads in Domestic Transactions in the Middle East
The Nilson Report’s latest issue focuses on domestic card transactions in the Middle East, revealing that Iran stands out in the region. The report highlights that the electronic payment company Saman has achieved over 9798.1 billion transactions, securing the top position among Iranian companies in this domain.
The issue notes that Iranian domestic bank cards, including brands such as BehPardakht Mellat, Saman, IP, Parsian, Omid Pay, Pasargad, Asan Pardakht Persian, Kish Credit Card, and Sadaad, dominate the regional market in terms of transaction volume. All these cards operate under the Shaparak network of Iran’s Central Bank.
Iran: The Largest Card Market in the Middle East and Africa
Despite the Nilson Report also mentioning notable domestic brands from Nigeria (e.g., Voro), South Africa (e.g., Petro Card), Kuwait (e.g., Lamil and K-Net), Qatar (e.g., E-Cash), Kenya (e.g., Auto Branch), Saudi Arabia (e.g., Mada), Pakistan (e.g., PayPak), UAE (e.g., Mercury), and Morocco (e.g., CMI), Iran is still highlighted as the largest card market in the Middle East and Africa. Notably, neither Visa nor MasterCard have access to the Iranian card market.
According to the report, Iran alone accounted for 43.41 billion card transactions in 2023, with a total value of 2.052 trillion dollars. This represents an 18.4% increase in card transactions compared to 2022.
Although Iran does not appear in the Nilson Report’s rankings of Visa and MasterCard transactions in the Middle East and Africa, Iranian bank cards are listed in the “Other Cards” section at the end of the table.
Saman Payment Electronics Tops the Domestic Payment Companies
The Nilson Report ranks Saman Payment Electronics at the top among domestic payment companies in Iran and the wider Middle East and Africa region, with 9.7 billion transactions. It is followed by BehPardakht Mellat with 8.8 billion transactions, Parsian Electronic Commerce with 6.7 billion transactions, Arvand Omid Payment (OmidPay) with 5.1 billion transactions, Pasargad Electronic Payment with 4.5 billion transactions, Asan Pardakht Persian with 3.5 billion transactions, Iran Kish with 3.2 billion transactions, and Sadaad with 1.5 billion transactions in the ranking of the region’s highest transaction volumes.
As shown in the image above, the share of other domestic payment companies in the Middle East and Africa amounts to 1.07 billion transactions out of a total of 44.48 billion domestic card transactions in the region. Among these companies, Riyadh Bank’s card has achieved the highest transaction volume with 446.8 million transactions in 2023.
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