Credit cards are becoming more popular in Saudi Arabia that during the next two- to three-year period at least 50 percent of the bankable consumers will each carry and transact through the payment cards in the Kingdom, according to a credit card expert. Shaun Rashid, senior business leader, MasterCard Worldwide said the banks in the Kingdom are now better informed about the credit cards. He said the banks are trying to penetrate different segments including women, affluent customers, the elite to the masses. “It is most likely that during the next two to three years around 50 percent of the Saudi bankable consumers will be issued with one or the other brands of credit cards,” he said adding that the penetration rate of credit cards in Saudi Arabia at the moment was not so high. Rashid was speaking at a press conference Tuesday in Riyadh to announce latest MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence findings for the second half of 2008 for key markets across South Asia, Middle East and Africa (SAMEA). He said Saudi Arabia has the huge potential in credit card market and consumer confidence has always been very high in the Kingdom. He however said that Saudi Arabia scored 80 percentage points in the MasterCard Worldwide survey conducted in March/April for the next six months of 2008. The Index revealed that consumer confidence in Saudi Arabia is still strong despite a slight decline in optimism. The current Saudi Arabia Index score of 80.1 out of a possible score of 100 decreased from 92.2 six months ago. Indications for Saudi Arabia are that consumer sentiment is overall positive and optimistic, he said. “Although Saudi consumers scored 10 percent less points for the next six-month period the confidence index is still high as compared to other parts of the world,” he said. Overall, consumer confidence across the Middle East and Levant (ME&L) has also slightly decreased, likely influenced by global economic slow down, sub prime crisis, increasing oil prices and rising inflation. The scores, ranging from 0 to 100 are based on responses on five variables including employment, economy, regular income, stock market and quality of life. A score of 50 represents the midpoint. A score above 50 indicates that consumers are optimistic about the economic climate, while a score below 50 signals that consumer are pessimistic about the economic situation. The markets surveyed are Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, the UAE, India and South Africa. He said the survey conducted biannually by MasterCard asked questions to around 400 consumers. He said the Saudi consumers reflected less optimism in the country's stock market, which scored 50 percentage points. In the latest survey, the Index scores for most of the key barometers registered a decrease - perception on employment registers at 91.8, a drop of 3.8 points from 95.6 in the first half of 2008. Sentiment on economy is at 85.0 as compared to 97.2 six months ago, sentiment on stock market is at 51.6 as compared to 94.4 six months ago and regular income registers at 90.1 as compared to 95.5 six months ago. However, the sentiment on quality of life increased from 78.1 in the first half of 2008 to 82.3 in the current survey. On a market basis, Saudi Arabia ranked fourth in the Middle East with an Index score of 80.1 against 92.2 six months ago. Kuwait remains highly optimistic but a little less so than six month ago (89.4 versus 93.3). Saudis as compared to the strong economic situation in the country have yet to attain a credit card culture while the banks are jockeying to get their share of the market, he said. The Saudi credit card market, which has lot of potential is growing fast, he said without elaborating on the number of payment cards now in circulation and the growth rate. __
