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Al Ansari Exchange reports hike in foreign transactions in first 10 days of Expo 2020

Al Ansari Exchange sees a surge in non-resident transactions in the first 10 days of Expo 2020…reports Asian Lite News

Al Ansari Exchange, the UAE-based foreign exchange and worldwide money transfer company, reported a surge in its foreign currency exchange transactions made by non-residents during the first 10 days of October 2021, coinciding with the start of Dubai Expo 2020. According to the company’s report, the number of visitors, or non-residents of the UAE, who purchased foreign currencies during the first 10 days of this month went up by 69% compared to the same period in September 2021.

Rashed A. Al Ansari, CEO of Al Ansari Exchange

Furthermore, these types of transactions soared higher than the pre-pandemic days. Al Ansari Exchange revealed a significant increase of 9% in the number of foreign currency purchase transactions by non-residents during the first 10 days of October 2021 in comparison to the same period in October 2019.

RASHED A. AL ANSARI, CEO, AL ANSARI EXCHANGE: “The available data demonstrates that the currency exchange sector in the UAE has already begun to experience the positive impact of Dubai Expo 2020, enabling the industry to better position itself for a stronger comeback from the pandemic. Apart from the Expo, other factors such as the resumption of flights especially from India and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, return of in-person conferences and events, and growing economic activities in the country also played a major role in the growth of money exchange transactions. The figures we released only cover the first 10 days of this month. We project exponential growth in the coming months leading up to the holiday season and the conclusion of the premier world exposition in Dubai in 2022. The strong performance also falls in line with the latest statement by H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE confirming that the country has overcome the pandemic and is now returning to normalcy.”

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Al Ansari Exchange accounts for over 36% of the local market share, the company conducts at least 120,000 transactions per day and caters to the needs of more than 3 million customers monthly.

Lockdown fuels growth of E-commerce, OTT, gaming

E-commerce, OTT, gaming saw over 100% growth in 2020. The OTT segment witnessed an incredible 144 per cent increase in the number of transactions and a 139 per cent increase in expenditure between 2019 and 2020

Advantage OTT, Gaming and e-commerce. Covid spread has fuelled the growth of tech sector. Amid the pandemic, online payments, indoor entertainment and gaming witnessed over 100 per cent growth in India last year, a new report said.

As theatres and offline entertainment avenues remained shut consumers turned to indoor entertainment, the OTT segment witnessed an incredible 144 per cent increase in the number of transactions and a 139 per cent increase in expenditure between 2019 and 2020, according to online payments solution provider PayU.

The pandemic gave a huge boost to online payments, seen in the 24 per cent increase in the number of transactions and 23 per cent increase in expenditure across the PayU platform, year on year.

“PayU is committed to partnering with merchants to facilitate adoption of digital infrastructure,” said Hemang Dattani, Head- Data Intelligence, PayU.

Interestingly, during the festive season (October-December 2020) there was a 45 per cent spike in the number of online transactions vis-a-vis the same period in the previous year.

The number of UPI transactions grew by 288 per cent and expenditure through UPI grew a phenomenal 331 per cent between 2019 and 2020.

The gaming segment saw a phenomenal 100 per cent increase in expenditure and a 154 per cent increase in average ticket size between the two years.

“For gaming and entertainment, the number of transactions made at night increased by 34 per cent while the number of transactions made during the day decreased by 11 per cent in 2020 vs. 2019, an indication of the increased dependence on indoor entertainment while working from home,” the findings showed.

Travel and hospitality were some of the most impacted sectors with an 86 per cent drop in the number of transactions and expenditure between pre and post-COVID quarters (January-March vs April-June 2020).

Compared to 2019, there was a 46 per cent drop in the number of transactions and a 52 per cent in drop in expenditure in ’20.

“Edtech emerged as a winner, with a 78 per cent increase in the number of transactions and a 44 per cent increase in expenditure,” the report mentioned.