Under the terms of the deal, Snorrason Holdings will be offering a cash payment method at the beginning of 2015 via its payment brand DalPay.
Cash remains the most popular payment method in the MENA region, where only 18% of adults have a bank account and only 2% have a credit card, according to the World Banks 2011 Global Financial Inclusion (Global Findex) Database. Without a cash payment method, consumers and merchants in the region are excluded from participating in the global ecommerce marketplace traditionally powered by online credit card payments.
CashU is a payment method designed for and customised to serve and support online shoppers in all Arabic speaking and surrounding countries with payment solutions, giving everyone the possibility to buy online without discriminating on income, nationality or banking credentials. CashU users can fund their accounts with cash at participating CashU vendors, which they can then use to purchase from an online CashU merchant.
As regional internet usage has been growing at about 40% per year, ecommerce spending for MENA is estimated to hit USD 12 billion in 2014 and USD 15 billion in 2015, according to a November 2014 press release from CashUs parent company Souq.com.
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