Qatar records 55.08mn payment system transactions valued at QR16.68bn

17/10/2025 02:54 AST

Qatar witnessed a total of 55.08mn transactions valued at QR16.68bn through the country's payment system in September 2025, according to the Qatar Central Bank (QCB) data.

The number of transactions and total value grew 4.81% and 3.35% month-on-month respectively in September 2025, even as Fawran and QMP (Qatar Mobile Payment) were seen outpacing the total, the QCB said in its social media handle X.

Qatar Payment System (QPS) is designed on the concept of real-time gross settlement (RTGS) and electronic straight through processing (e-STP).

The point-of-sales constituted 51% of the payment system transaction, followed by e-commerce 25%, Fawran or instant payment system at 22% and QMP at 2% in the review period.

There were 42.43mn card transactions through point-of-sales - which enables merchants to process payments and log transactions - valued at QR8.46bn in September 2025. The card transactions increased 4.02% and 2.79% month-on-month in volume and value respectively.

The e-commerce transactions witnessed as many as 10.09mn transactions valued at QR4.23bn in the review period. While the number of transactions jumped 7%, total value was down by a marginal 0.24% compared with August 2025.

The point-of-sales and e-commerce together amounted to QR12.69bn through 52.52mn transactions this September, which showed 4.58% and 1.68% increase in volume and value respectively on a monthly basis.

Fawran -- a real-time payment service in Qatar, allowing users to send and receive money instantly and securely within the country -- registered as many as 2.21mn transactions valued at QR3.69bn in September 2025, growing 10.5% and 9.17% month-on-month respectively.

There have been a total of 3.39mn total registered Fawran accounts in September this year, growing by 1.8% month-on-month.

Fawran was launched in 2024 and system members are QNB, Commercial Bank, Qatar Islamic Bank, Ahli Bank, Dukhan Bank, Doha Bank, QIIB and AlRayan Bank.

QMP - which allows immediate transfer of funds between registered customers through any registered payment service providers - saw as many as 359,462 transactions valued at QR294.63mn in September 2025, registering 7.72% and 5.88% growth against August 2025 levels.

There has been a total of 1.21mn registered wallets in the review period, a 1.63% decline on a monthly basis.

The QMP is a centralised payment system that was launched in 2020, to enable individuals and corporates to perform instant fund transfers between e-wallets within payment service providers in Qatar.

The system members are QNB, Commercial Bank, Doha Bank, Qatar Islamic Bank, Ahli Bank, QIIB, Arab Bank, HSBC Qatar, AlRayan Bank, Dukhan Bank, i-pay and Ooredoo Money.

The QPS is based on the SWIFT network and messages standards and utilises the SWIFT messages to reconcile and settle the local payments and securities ownership transfers.

Qatar's retail payment system comprise electronic cheque clearing system; national network system for ATMS and Points of Sales (NAPS); QMP; direct deposit and debit (QATCH); electronic payment gateway (QPay); wage protection system (WPS); and Fawran.